Either I’m a strategic genius, or I just have a good sense of guessing what campaigns will do next.
Your friendly neighborhood campaign correspondent, back on June 19:
Obama’s campaign has done a nice job of telling his unusual and inspiring life story; now they need to showcase him as an effective political leader. Ideally, they would point to the centerpiece of his state legislative campaign in 1996, and how he enacted that key piece of legislation, and similar cases in 1998 and 2002.
The Obama campaign, today:
BARACK OBAMA: I’m Barack Obama, and I approved this message.
There is not liberal America and conservative America, there is only the United States of America.
STATE SENATOR KIRK DILLARD, REPUBLICAN: Senator Obama worked on some of the deepest issues we had, and he was successful in a bipartisan way.
[On screen: Obama’s Illinois Achievements: Tougher ethics laws, welfare reform, health coverag for 154,000 uninsured, tax relief for low income workers]
STATE SENATOR , DEMOCRAT: Legislation that he carried, he believed in. He was not carrying it for a group, he was not carrying it for a lobbyist.
STATE SENATOR KIRK DILLARD, REPUBLICAN: Republican legislators respected Senator Obama. His negotiation skills and ability to understand both sides would serve the country very well.
I have to admit, if he keeps listening to me, I’m going to have a crush on Barack Obama.
UPDATE: At the prompting of Campaign Spot reader Charlie, my next piece of advice for Senator Obama is to vote NO on cloture for the immigration reform deal…