I'm getting a European perspective of the campaign this week. From here, it looks as if Obama has to appear stronger and do a better job of responding to the Republican attacks before they are able to define him.
I'm spending about 2 weeks in Europe with stops in 5 different countries, so I'm getting my political news sporadically rather than continuously. Along the way, I'm attending a conference with mostly European participants, so I'm picking up their views of our political system and the candidates.
While it's still early and the Republicans are benefitting from the convention "bounce", it's looking as if Obama is letting the Republicans define him, rather than taking the offensive in defining himself. He also came across as very soft in the first interview with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC (Part 1, Part 2). He had vowed to fight back hard and quickly against the opposition's smears and lies, but failed to do so there, merely offering his opinion that the voters will eventually come to their senses when they start to think seriously about the issues. If we waits to long to respond, he runs the risk of being Swift-boated, with Independent voters forming a lasting assessment. Does he look strong enough to stand up to Medvedev or other aggressive leaders? Certainly not with a wimpy response to the McSame/Palin team's attacks.
In the past, it was fine to let your surrogates go out and fight these battles on your behalf. But McSame's team is trying to turn this election into a vote on character rather than on the issues, so that makes it necessary for Obama to stand up for himself, his family, and the power of his vision beyond replacing the disastrous Bush/Cheney regime. He has to state his case and respond to the Republican lies not just in small townhall meetings, but also on the larger platform offered by the mainstream media. Otherwise, he will end up as another McGovern/Mondale/Dukakis loser, and the US will be much the worse for it.