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Campaign Crawlers

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David Axelrod, Obama's chief strategist, spoke as if he could smell victory when asked at the Palace Theater how the campaign would respond to Republican criticisms.

"I just think that the tide of history is running against them," Axlerod said, citing the unpopularity of the war and economic anxiety. As for McCain, he said, "We're going to have a very vigorous debate if he's the nominee because he's the most robust supporter of the war... He's still carrying the tattered banner of the Bush presidency, and I think people want change, and I'm not sure he represents it."

PERHAPS SENSING THE need to differentiate himself from the administration, Mike Huckabee has accused it of having an "arrogant bunker mentality." And in Saturday's debate, he defended his statement by saying, "I'm not running for George Bush's third term."

Speaking at the brunch, GOPAC chairman and former Maryland Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele made the case that there is a difference between words and actions.

"Hope alone is not a strategy, let alone a solution," he said. "Without action, hope is powerless to transform lives."

In a conversation afterwards, Steele said that Obama has his own vulnerabilities: "He's got a big hurdle to overcome -- he's a two-term state senator running for President of the United States at a time of war."

But Steele also acknowledged that Republicans are "going through a post-Reagan transition" and that different segments of the party have problems with each of the candidates for the nomination, which will make it difficult to compete against a Democratic Party that is unified and energized around Obama.

topics:
Foreign Policy, John McCain, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Environment, Military, Iraq, NATO