Required Reading

1) From Gallup.com, "Presidential Race Tightens to 4 Points" by some guy who works for Gallup

The Ego has landed! A mere three days ago, Barack Obama sat comfortably perched atop a nine point lead in the Gallup tracking poll. Now it's down to four. Rasmussen shows an even tighter race. In Rasmussen's tracking numbers, Obama's six point lead of four days ago has shrunk to two. And let's not forget the notorious Gallup non-tracking poll which showed McCain with a four point lead. True, that one was an obvious outlier and as responsible analysts we should ignore the outliers. But the big picture is obvious - Barack Obama's lead is a slim one.

So what gives? If you think I'm about to slip in a peroration on the effectiveness of the McCain campaign, think again. Regarding the McCain operation, the most charity I'm capable of is that as much as the outfit has struggled, it's still right in the thick of things. Imagine if they get their act together.

Obama's relative misfortunes are his own doing. Yesterday I was having a conversation with a friend, a fellow conservative who as it turns out has traveled the same political journey the last several months that I have. At the start of the year, both of us found Barack Obama a very attractive candidate. Neither us would have considered voting for him because of his reflexive and dangerous dovishness (among other problems), but his personal decency and his call for national unity were appealing.

Six months later, the thrill is gone. The simple fact is Barack Obama doesn't wear well. The more most people see of him, the less they like. This phenomenon has much to do with his lack of substance. Calling for nice things like unity, whether in Boston or Berlin, is a swell thing. (Did you like the way I worked in some Obama-style alliteration there?) But the endless repetition of the call unaccompanied by a substantive plan of action eventually grates. After a while, the whole Hope/Change thing begins to sound like empty rhetoric.

And then you have Obama's ego. If ever there was a presidential candidate who had cause to be modest, it's Barack Obama. By presidential aspirant levels, he has accomplished virtually nothing of significance in his life. And then there's the disquieting fact that we're not exactly talking about Bob Casey Jr. here - where Senator Casey Jr. has no discernible talents, Obama is a highly intelligent and gifted guy. And what has he done with his life?

The longer and closer you pay attention to Barack Obama, the more concerning these things become. And I'm not just talking about the reaction of conservatives. I implore you to read the lefty blogs. Their lack of enthusiasm for Obama is almost as marked as their opposite numbers' lack of excitement for McCain.

Here's some free strategic advice for the Obama campaign - acknowledge that your guy doesn't wear well and won't wear well. His substance-free style of politicking eventually frustrates a fair share of the electorate, and his self-regard reaches a tipping point when a level of over-exposure is reached. The obvious solution is to amp down the rock star aspects of the Obama campaign.

Problem is, being a rock star seems to be Obama's favorite part of the process.

2) From the New York Times, "Teaching Law, Testing Ideas, Obama Stood Apart" by Jodi Kantor

Apparently having nothing newsworthy to print today, the Grey Lady ran this extended appreciation of Barack Obama's days as a lecturer (not a Professor) at the University of Chicago Law School. Guess what? His students loved him. I'm not surprised. As I've written many times, the people who went to law school with him sing the same tune regardless of their current political orientation - they all adore him. By all accounts on a personal level, Barack Obama is a swell guy.