The media has backed Obama into a no-win situation.

[Drunken Irishman]

On MSNBC just now, they were discussing how Obama can't go negative, or it will make him look like a hypocrite, but then they also said if Obama stays positive and doesn't stoop to Clinton's level, it will show he's weak. So that's what Obama faces now, if he says anything they deem negative, he's a lying hypocrite, but if he tries to stay above it all, he's weak and glass jawed. Or in other words, damned he does and damned if he doesn't.

So how does he counter this? Clinton is going to continue with her petty, Republican-like attacks, but how can Obama hit back without looking like he's straying from message?

[Kukesa]

1. Let's hope that Axelrod and his other brilliant staffers

can handle the situation. They're pros and this is probably just a hiccup to them.

I hope . . .

[ginnyinWI]

2. I don't know what he's going to do, but I know it will be

something people don't expect. HRC will have to regroup and reorganize. Because I do believe the man is creative and brilliant. And he's got plenty of people on his side.

p.s I'm glad it's Friday--things might look a lot better by Monday. :)

[marlakay]

7. but aren't they voting tomorrow?? nt

[ginnyinWI]

9. sure.

I meant the Samantha Powers thing--all the wagging tongues and speculation, etc. will have a chance to cool down.

The caucus tomorrow will also give them something else to think about--the media, that is.

[K Gardner]

3. I saw that, too. I think Obama is probably waging an internal war right now with himself. He either

fights back, or he doesn't and this is a decision only HE can make. I'm sure he's hearing both sides from those around him.

Right now, Hillary is winning in perception because she is engaged and fighting. He is perceived as losing because he isn't. No matter what you feel about it, it doesn't look good.. and it's all about perception. Remember Al Gore, the Bore? Who created that perception? The same entity that is creating the "Obama is weak, not a fighter" meme. Its already starting to stick. Because he is still unknown to the national scene. He can shape himself OR let the media and Hillary do it.

He doesn't have a lot of time to think. Tic toc, tic toc. Another few 24-hour news cycles dominated by this and its a stuck meme.

By the time John Kerry got around to halfway defending himself, it was over and the election was lost. This election is being waged right now by "perceptions". Obama must engage and soon.

JMHO :-)

[marlakay]

8. I like john kerry but he has to fight back better

or he will lose. But i heard on ed schultz today alot of his backers are saying to stay positive because that is his message even if he loses since he is young...as soon as i heard that i yelled out, oh god he is going to lose and be like kerry.......

[TayTay]

4. That is an argument posed by the opposition.

Sen. Obama also has authenticity on his side. He sounds authentic when he talks about hope and about leading this country in a new direction. The biggest danger going forward is that he will suddenly start doing things that are not perceived to be "like him." If he loses that, he loses a lot.

His strategy is based on hope but it is also based on understanding the need in the electorate right now for someone to actually lead in this country. We have been through some really bad stuff in the last 7 years. We went through horrible times after 9/11 in which the current White House occupant used our own fears to divide us and to spread dissent and disunity in the country. The aftermath to Katrina powerfully showed what happens when you have a nation divided into those deemed worthy and those deemed forgettable. People yearn to have those false divisions erased. They perceived in Sen. Obama someone who can do that.

The campaign can hit back, but hit back hard on those things that matter to people. The Clinton campaign is making this a personal referendum on Barack Obama because they have no other way to make their argument. Hope is both a strong and a fragile thing. It exists powerfully as long as the one making the hope argument is strong, authentic and believes in the power of his own message. So, first, get off the Clinton playing field. They thrive when the argument is about small and personal things. Sen. Obama needs to reiterate his message of hope, of reaching those abandoned by a political system that deems some states worthy and some not. He needs to appeal, as he did so well in Iowa, to the angels of our better nature that want more unity in this country and more people unafraid to talk to each other. It is fair and necessary to hit Sen. Clinton on those same points. Why is she so comfortable writing off all the people in the alleged "red states"? Why doesn't her vision for America include all the people of America? Is this a sign that she will govern the same way Bush does, but appealing to a narrow block of voters that allows her to get by without getting things done?

I think that's what he will do. He needs to be himself. It has worked and it is not a reworking or rethinking of anything.

[ginnyinWI]

10. so far, the best defense I've seen is using humor

When he's gone out on the stump and just kind of laughed it all off, it makes him look like a leader who doesn't get rattled easily. Make a joke at her expense. Then get back to focusing on the issues at hand.

You are right, he's got to raise it above the petty level she's on. It's like she's cutting up little tidbits and throwing them out to the press corps who jump and scramble to catch them. Obama's got to change that frame and get them looking at the bigger things again.

[ladym55]

5. I'm considering the source of the comment

It's Dana Millbank. He is pretty snarky. He is a Washington insider and when Al Gore's book Assault on Reason was published, he made sure everyone knew how boring Gore was.

I am more taken aback by the Clinton response to the monster comment. The comparison to Kenneth Starr was what -- historic fact??? huh?

[marlakay]

6. Thats what i told my husband he is in a lose/lose

and my husband said if he is smart really smart he will go negative without it looking like he is going negative...