Obama's downward slide

[GaryC 7]

Barack Obama's "refreshing moment in the 2008 presidential campaign" as The Chronicle described yesterday's feel-good Bay Area visit, may provide only temporary relief from what has been a string of otherwise unwelcome developments.

One of the tell-tale signs could be found in the New York Times story that appeared on the same page as the Chronicle "jump" from page 1. It suggested that Obama's attempts to compete with John Edwards as the champion of the working man and woman may not be working too well with major unions, whose support, in terms of both money and campaign foot soldiers, is pretty important.

According to the Times, the best Obama may do among this constituency is to get some individual unions from openly throwing their support to front-runner Hillary Clinton. Overall, union endorsements are trending for either Clinton or Edwards.

Which brings us to the opinion polls, where the news for Obama is worsening. As his numbers dwindle, Clinton's numbers soar, both nationally and in the crucial swing states of Florida -- where Clinton outpolls Obama by 30 points -- and Pennslyvania and Ohio, according to the latest Quinnipiac survey.

Stubbing his toe, at least politically, on various foreign policy issues hasn't helped, adding to the perception, long-held by skeptics (unfairly or not), that he is a lightweight.

As the Los Angeles-based African-American commentator Earl Ofari Hutchinson noted this week,

But even if Obama had done and said everything right on foreign policy issues, his slide was inevitable. In fact, there were signs that Obama could hit the wall with voters, and the issue would be his fitness to wear the tag of commander-in-chief.

It would be worse for Obama, Hutchinson continues, if he should by some miracle beat out Clinton or Edwards for the Democratic nomination. His political and foreign policy missteps would make it virtually impossible for him to unhinge one, let alone two states away from the Southern Republican bloc.

And where the fault lies, Hutchinson believes, is clear.

Though it's still early in the presidential game one thing is clear, Obama is the first casualty of Obama.

If Hutchinson is correct, are we witnessing an odd symmetry here -- what was supposed to be the Democratic equivalent in the realm of "straight talking" heading for the same oblivion confronting his Republican counterpart?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/foreig...try_id=19305%22

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

So the Dems will help another Republican into the White House.