Legal Commentary

Dampening Enthusiasm

By Big Tent Democrat

Democracy Corps:

It is important to note that this progress [for Obama] has been accompanied by some diminished enthusiasm and few gains among independent voters. . . . Obama’s campaign has only just begun to engage with the big issues before the country and to define the choice boldly in a way that engages voters, fully consolidates Democrats and wins over independents – though he clearly has the opportunity to do all three. . . . The Obama campaign clearly understands that it will have to be seen as leading the change in this change election.

. . . Not surprising is the drop in intense positives among liberals, liberal Democrats and white young voters, as we can see in the graph below. More worrisome is the broader drop in intense responses on key attributes –“on your side” (describes “very well” dropped from 27 to 21 percent), “strong leader” (dropped from 31 to 26 percent), and “will bring the right kind of change” (dropped from 28 to 24 percent). Overall, only 51 percent say Obama is “on your side” (down 4 points) and only 52 percent say he will “will bring the right kind of change” (unchanged). Obama seems to have lost some definition in this transition, and he has only just begun to articulate the change in ways that engage voters.

(Emphasis supplied.) [More...] I believe Obama has made a terrible mistake in these two weeks or so, damaging his "new politics" brand in ways he will not recover from. He'll win imo, but he has done some inexcusable things which not only do not help him politically but actually hurt him. Instead of "defining the choice boldly," Obama has blurred the differences. It is a political error.

By Big Tent Democrat, speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on July 10, 2008 (boomark / email).