Obama works to preserve, expand bid: Surrounded by American flags, delivers serious speeches

[DeepModem Mom]

USA Today: Obama works to preserve, expand bid
By Jill Lawrence, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Wednesday was the second day in a row that Democrat Barack Obama stood at a lectern surrounded by American flags and delivered a serious speech about a pressing issue. The subliminal message: "Picture this man as your commander in chief." As a controversy over his former pastor threatened his status as front-runner in the Democratic nomination race, Obama needed to do something. The upshot was ceremonial settings and three speeches in a week.

Tuesday was devoted to race and religion. Wednesday was Iraq and national security. On Thursday, the Illinois Democrat scheduled a talk about the Iraq war and the economy. That's on top of regular campaign events and TV interviews, including a full hour tonight (Thursday) at 9 p.m. ET on CNN's Larry King Live.

Several new polls show Obama slipping. The first clues to the impact of his offensive won't come for several days, analysts say, and late-spring primaries will provide the final verdict.

One thing is clear: Like presumptive Republican nominee John McCain, whose campaign went broke last year and lost almost all senior staff, and rival Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton, who staged comebacks after losing leadoff Iowa in January and 12 straight contests in February, Obama is taking aggressive action to safeguard his bid. "He's doing everything anybody could do," said Democratic pollster Mark Mellman, who is neutral. "He understands what he has to do and how he has to do it."...

Obama used his address Tuesday in Philadelphia to reassure voters about his patriotism and views on race. His speech Wednesday near Fort Bragg, N.C., was a response to challenges from Clinton and McCain about his credibility as a commander in chief. Thursday's speech at 11 a.m. ET in Charleston, W.Va., addresses a third problem: his trouble expanding his appeal among working-class white voters, exacerbated by the Wright episode. These voters are a significant presence in coming primaries, and their concerns center on jobs and health care....

http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-03-19-politics_N.htm

[greeneyedstone]

1. Kudos to those who seek to inform others of this man's complete personality

Were this a white man, the cries for his removal would ring coast to coast. I watched all three morning shows, and the only thing being discussed was how difficult a time Clinton will have in winning the nomination. MSM is giving him a free pass, and I applaud everyone online who seeks to show all facets of his personality, which, if you ask me is seriously flawed. He has zero compunctions about burning grandma on the altar of Racism in a pathetic attempt to remove the focus from his hateful pastor, and he now freely admits that he lied about hearing those remarks in the first place. He's a coward for refusing to denounce UCC's hateful ideologies, and he should be made to resign in shame.