Who Will Channel Hillary?

The economy is issue number one for Americans. So who in the general election
will speak to it for Democrats? Barack Obama can speak about the policy side of things, but who will reach the people?

Tim Kaine?

Evan Bayh?

Nice guys. Fughettaboutit.

Joe Biden? No, but at least every single foreign leader respects the man. I
doubt if the same can be said for Mr. Kaine. They’ll eat Mr. Bayh for breakfast.

Seriously folks, what are we doing here? Are we trying to win, or just simply
putting up Mr. America, whose campaign seems to be under the illusion that all
the Democratic candidate has to do is show up to win. That symbolism is all.

“It has become increasingly clear in my travel, the campaign — that the crowds, the enthusiasm, 200,000 people in Berlin, is not about me at all. It’s about America. I have just become a symbol.” – Barack Obama

Are you sensing it? You know, that feeling that Senator Obama is going through
the motions of actually trying to win this thing, without believing he has to convince anyone that he has any answers to earn it. Presumptive nominee has already morphed into “presumptuous”, which is actually being discussed on all over cable TV.

Someone in McCain’s team has already sensed it. The nonchalance of the Democratic nominee who hasn’t even bothered to define himself or his mission. Though the latest
story in the Times doesn’t help their cause. We can only hope they’ll cave to the clamoring.

The old happy warrior side of Mr. McCain has been eclipsed a bit lately by a much more aggressive, and more negative, Mr. McCain who hammers Mr. Obama repeatedly on policy differences, experience and trustworthiness. By doing so, Mr. McCain is clearly trying to sow doubts about his younger opponent, and bring him down a peg or two. But some Republicans worry that by going negative so early, and initiating so many of the attacks himself rather than leaving them to others, Mr. McCain risks coming across as angry or partisan in a way that could turn off some independents who have been attracted by his calls for respectful campaigning. The drumbeat of attacks could also undermine his argument that he will champion a new brand of politics….

History lesson. Who was the last candidate who won the presidency by running
a “respectful campaign”?

Gotcha.

In the middle of it all lies this humongous gulf. Obama can speak in long
sentences that rap around dreams, visions and enough rhetorical cotton candy
to make his primary season word fogs look coherent. But the man cannot connect.

What is he going to do for my neighbor who has been laid off? Or the other
neighbor who is about to lose his house and his life savings?

Hillary would have an answer. She would reach inside these voters and talk
to their deepest despair and desperation, telling them that she can’t work miracles,
but she can offer solutions that provide a road map to find the way out.

Can Tim Kaine do that with voters? Can Evan Bayh?

Barack Obama seems to be under the grand illusion that he can do this alone, with simply a side kick to support his stardom. Or that he can do it with any old guy who can get his back. He’s wrong. What
Obama needs is someone who talks a language he doesn’t speak or understand. Speaking of problems he knows but can’t capture.

Suffice it to say there’s an empathy gap.

For the first time in decades a Democratic candidate reached down into voters’
anxieties and talked to the issues most on their minds. No Democrat has
done it in recent election cycles. That is, make lunch bucket, Reagan Democrats believe that a
Democratic candidate not only knows their plight and their challenges, but also gets them and has a solution and a road
map to lead them out. That person was not Barack Obama.

When thinking of the team that can lead Democrats to victory in November only
one stands out. It isn’t matching Obama with Evan Bayh, and it sure as hell isn’t serving up Tim Kaine.

We all know who can make this trek to the White House not only easier, but a road of mission and purpose on which every American would be proud to walk, because their best interests would be served. But the truth is that the people involved don’t seem willing to call it up.

So much hope wasted on the alter of ego. Our best chance of winning spurned in the balance. Because contrary to popular belief, we haven’t won this thing yet.