Obama brings a knife to a gunfight

Game on!

We have a presumptive nominee, so Obama has begun in earnest.  So far, the Obama campaign and allied forces have made sure we know that Mitt Romney put the family dog on top of a station wagon 30 years ago.  Also, he was a party to restraining a long-haired feller and cutting his hair in high school, and the guy might have been gay, except maybe none of that was true after all.  Or something.

It is perhaps a bit superficially jarring that such seems to be the Obama campaign’s main approach now, most of six months from Election Day.  I mean, to the degree that these sorts of attacks are ever indicated, aren’t they best used as “throw-ins,” ancillary to the primary message?

But think about it.  What else can Obama do?  Talk about all of his kept promises?  Trumpet the efficacy of his economic policy?  Tell most of America they’re wrong when they consistently say they want Obamacare repealed?  Brag about arming drug cartels?  Discuss how deftly he handles world leaders in casual conversation?  Say “I’m President Obama, who ordered Osama bin Laden killed” again?

See, Barack Obama has something he’s never had before:  a record of his performance.  This is new to both him and his campaign team.  They’ve never had to deal with it before.  So far, 1) Show up; 2) Orate; 3) Repeat has been the whole plan—and it’s been enough.

But gee, that’s not working anymore.  There’s this pesky little matter of three disastrous years under The One’s leadership.

So it’s straight to the little anecdotes that demonstrate how rotten Mitt Romney is.  There’s a problem with the little anecdotes, though.  Thanks both to a ceaselessly sycophantic media machine and inept opposition in 2008, Obama’s never had to deal with his own little anecdotes before.  The media was all in on the hopey-changey stuff.  McCain decided it was beneath him, so he played rope-a-dope with it (except he forgot to win at the end).

But the Romney campaign hits back—quickly.  (And poetically.  Loved the reiteration of the Dreams from My Father bit about eating dogs.)

So let’s examine what we have here.  We all know the level of genuine vetting Barack Obama received in 2008, which went something like:  “he’s so inspiring, and he’s the first black president.  Get him in there.  Ayers?  Wright?  Chicago-style thuggery?  Nothing to see here.  Move along.”  OK, so we’re playing on this level and comparing these largely unplumbed depths to…

…quite possibly the straightest arrow to run for president in the modern era.

Had a look at this week’s polling?

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