.......
But Gibson-Stephanopoulos aren't on the ballot. What really matters in the days before the Pennsylvania moment is how Barack Obama responded to the assault. In my view, he lost the debate and won the post-debate.
Let's face it. Obama had a bad month and week. Perhaps not as bad as American Airlines and Bear Stearns but the combination of a poor debate performance and answering questions about Rev. Wright and his "bitter" comments put his campaign on the defensive.
So why haven't the polls appreciably moved? The headlines changed, voters didn't. So far, Obama appears to have developed a Teflon skin every bit as impressive as Reagan's. Why?
............
And, like it or not, why are McCain insiders starting to rub their hands with glee that attacks on Obama's positions and associations make him the more vulnerable Democrat in the Fall? McCain in effect implied as much when he harshly attacked the Ayers-Obama connection on This Week with George Stephanopoulos this Sunday.
None of this broke through because of Obama's thick Teflon. Then, because of a campaign with a powerful theme of change and a candidate who carries it off with poise and flair, 35,000 show up to cheer him in Philadelphia Friday night. 35,000 is a lot of people, probably the most ever for a presidential candidate. John McCain has trouble attracting 350.
Hillary Clinton now reminds me of John Kerry in his general election. When Kerry personally bailed out his stumbling campaign with brilliant debate appearances against Bush, he closed the gap, for a while. Clinton too is better than her own campaign, as her smarts and grit keep it close and competitive. But Obama so far has met and passed his Timex Test -- he's takin' a lickin' and kept on tickin'. At least until Tuesday in Pennsylvania.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-green/i7-daysi-teflon-obama-w-d_b_97643.html
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