Candidates Face Three Critical Weeks: "Concentrated dose of potentially campaign-altering events"

[DeepModem Mom]

WP: Candidates Face Three Critical Weeks
By Dan Balz

Barack Obama returns to action Saturday after a week's vacation for a joint appearance with John McCain at the Saddleback Church in California. Obama's reappearance on the campaign trail signals the beginning of three of the most critical weeks of the general election. In the modern era, there has never been quite as concentrated a dose of potentially campaign-altering events as the coming three weeks could produce. By the end of that period, Obama and McCain will have announced their vice presidential running mates, staged four-day infomercials for their candidacies and delivered what are likely to be the single most important speeches of the general election....

Normally these events have stretched over six weeks or more and generally have taken place much earlier in the summer....

The competitiveness of the Obama-McCain contest now argues for safe vice presidential choices. Neither is in a position to risk -- nor does either need -- a running mate whose selection dramatically changes perceptions of their candidacies. The "first, do no harm" rule is especially important for Obama, given the question marks he is still dealing with. But it is similarly significant for McCain, whose still-tenuous relationship with his party's conservative base may check his instincts to use his pick to send a message to swing voters that he is not a George W. Bush Republican....

***

Obama and McCain each have convention narratives that will require deft management. For Obama, it is the inevitable drama with Hillary and Bill Clinton....McCain's narrative presents even trickier management. Can he simultaneously lock down the base and send signals to the independents he desperately needs to win in November that he's different? Can he embrace parts of Bush's presidency and reject others and do so with a consistency and conviction that will resonate with those voters?

Finally there is what the first President Bush called, dismissively, "the vision thing." Will either Obama or McCain demonstrate with their acceptance speeches that they have it? So far they have fallen short on that front.

There's no question that Obama has been an inspiring candidate. The grassroots energy that his campaign has produced is testament to that. By moving his acceptance speech from the smaller, indoor Pepsi Center to gigantic, outdoor Invesco Field, he will shine another spotlight on that part of his candidacy. But he has a lot more to accomplish in Denver. Obama's rhetorical gifts are obvious, but what he needs is a convention speech that is not just inspirational. His governing agenda is ambitious but sprawling and needs sharper focus. He is still looking for a more authoritative voice on the economy. He also may want to use the speech to confront the issue of race even more directly than he has.

McCain is rarely at his best with the kind of big, set-piece speeches that he will be asked to deliver in St. Paul....Can he authentically describe where he wants to take the country?...

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/08/15/candidates_face_three_critical.html?hpid=sec-politics

[ContinentalOp]

1. Oh brother.

The "first, do no harm" rule is especially important for Obama, given the question marks he is still dealing with.

Oh you mean made up question marks like the assertion that he's dealing with "question marks"?

""the vision thing." Will either Obama or McCain demonstrate with their acceptance speeches that they have it? So far they have fallen short on that front."

Give me a break

He also may want to use the speech to confront the issue of race even more directly than he has.

Yeah, right. They wish.

McCain is rarely at his best with the kind of big, set-piece speeches that he will be asked to deliver in St. Paul....Can he authentically describe where he wants to take the country?...

Should be pretty simple for him. Four more years of Bush's economic policies. War in Iran, war with Russia, war, war, war, more neverending, war. It seems to me like McCain has a pretty focused vision for the country.