Judgment Day Draws Nigh

In less than 48 hours, Pennsylvanians will be going to the polls. They'll be the first voters to cast ballots in the presidential race in more than a month.

And what a month it's been.

Although the most damaging issues that have been raised about Barack Obama have originated, interestingly, from his own camp, the Hillary Clinton camp has been ready to pounce on them when raised.

But being reactive instead of proactive lacks presidential assertiveness. Clinton's camp also has been trying to bring up some questions about Obama on its own, but those issues haven't had the staying power of Rev. Wright or "bitter" blue-collar workers looking to guns and religion as surrogates for financial security -- or the latest, his acquaintance with an anarchist from the Weather Underground.

As an observer of the campaign for The Sunday Times, Sarah Baxter notes, "If it is too late for Clinton, 60, to turn the race around, she has only herself to blame, according to Karl Rove, the architect of George W. Bush’s two presidential election victories. Democrats regard him as the master of the art of negative campaigning.

"'Her problem is not the attack on Obama, it is the timing,' he told The Sunday Times. 'She was complacent at the beginning and took him for granted.'”

Rove is correct. Clinton is paying the price for not acting more boldly, more decisively earlier in the campaign.

But, when you're trailing, as Clinton is, late is better than never.

"Clinton feels her rival is finally being properly vetted after last week’s televised debate," writes Baxter. "The debate went extremely badly for the thin-skinned Obama, who was irritated by questions he regarded as personal trivia. Voters are more likely to perceive them as important matters of character and judgment."

Of course, when such vetting is done late in the process, it opens the door for other problems down the road. The survivor is deprived of time to dispose of troublesome issues.

"The danger is that she will ultimately bequeath the Democrats a wounded candidate," says Baxter, "not the new John F. Kennedy, but an effete liberal known as 'Snobama,' the 2008 version of John Kerry, the last election loser. If so, his image will have been defined not by Republicans but by a Democrat."

I disagree with the suggestion that it would be Clinton's fault if Obama is unable to overcome these problems -- or others yet to come. Whether it is the Clinton campaign or John McCain's campaign or the media that raises the question, the point is that the question has been raised. And voters will want to hear his answer to the question.

Obama has claimed repeatedly in the campaign that he has better judgment than Clinton, and that would make him a better president, even though he admits that Clinton has more experience. If he is unable to deal with issues of his character and judgment, then he is unprepared for the rough-and-tumble nature of presidential politics.

Rove appears to agree with me.

"Rove argues that it is 'superficial' to blame Clinton for behaving like a Republican towards Obama," Baxter says. "(Rove says) 'He’s been countering it as best he can by saying it is unimportant and a distraction, but Americans don’t care if she’s doing the Republicans’ dirty work for them. They just want to know more about Senator Obama.'”

I disagree, however, with Kirsten Powers of the New York Post, who says that an "endless family feud" in the Democratic Party will translate into a Republican victory in the fall.

McCain has issues of his own. He's wrapped up his nomination, but he still has some unhappy elements of his base to bring around.

But that's a topic for another day.

Endorsements

I haven't seen very many endorsements in Pennsylvania -- possibly more will be published on the eve of the primary or even the day of the primary -- but all the ones I've seen support Obama.

Allentown Morning Call: "[O]n the issues, the differences between the Obama and Clinton platforms are thin or non-existent. He has set himself apart by enunciating a vision of a different America, one that people recognize as resting on the nation's founding principles. His vision calls upon 'the better angels of our nature' just as Abraham Lincoln did."

Bucks County Courier Times: "[T]he professional way he's conducted his campaign and the deft organization he's put together, which has outmaneuvered Clinton, is impressive. We believe Obama would bring the same professionalism to the executive branch of government since he isn't tied into lobbyists and special interests."

Philadelphia Inquirer: "Obama has demonstrated the resilience to bounce back from challenges in this long campaign. His speech in Philadelphia on race relations quelled the immediate political furor over his former pastor's anti-white rhetoric. But Obama's address did more than serve his own political needs. It called on blacks and whites to consider each other's legitimate motives, and to move beyond conflicting perspectives. Turning a tempest into an opportunity for national reflection and action is a sign of leadership."

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "Sen. Obama has captured much of the nation's imagination for a reason. He offers real change, a vision of an America that can move past not only racial tensions but also the political partisanship that has so bedeviled it."

Washington (Pa.) Observer-Reporter: "[T]he realities of sitting in the White House are always quite different from what they say on the campaign trail. Between the two, we prefer to look to the future with Obama rather than to the past."