Posted by
Always To The Right on Friday, August 29, 2008 9:49:28 AM
When Obama (and John McCain) hit the campaign trail, they know that
the audience comprises the faithful. When they have the opportunity to
go live on every network, though, the candidates have a much wider
audience — and a much larger opportunity to convince the skeptics, and
even impress their opponents. Conventions provide the greatest chance
in the race for bringing this kind of audience to a candidate.
So why just focus on the faithful, instead of convincing the
skeptics that Obama is more than just talk? Either Obama simply isn’t
adept enough to understand the difference between a campaign event and
a nationally-broadcast event — and I don’t believe that — or he’s still
worried that his base has fractured too badly for him to win. After a
summer of policy reversals and hedging on still more, Obama can’t
afford to reach out in any substantive way beyond the limits of his
base.