The American Spectator

The Democrats have always had better luck with likeable unknowns (Jack Kennedy, Jimmy Carter in 1976, Bill Clinton, etc.) than they have with known quantities Lyndon Johnson, Hubert Humphrey, Jimmy Carter in 1980, etc.), and Barack Obama fits the bill nicely.

He’s a charming, eloquent and charismatic figure who comes off as comfortable in his own skin. In modern campaigning, where sound bites are the rule and depth is hard to demonstrate to those who lack it, these are difficult traits to beat, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be done.

Obama’s Achilles’ heel is his lack of experience and training. He’s not simply a rookie, he’s a rookie who has only held national office for a couple of years. When confronted with questions that he cannot answer on the fly, he is as likely as not to make some very obvious public gaffes, as he did when he proposed invading Pakistan.

The way to beat a likable, pleasant fellow who hasn’t got a clue about policy is to highlight his ignorance and force him to take positions on the fly which can then be brought up during debates. Force voters to confront his inadequacies in experience and judgment without being vicious about it.

p>This will be difficult, as the media tends to ignore evidence of incompetence or outright stupidity in Democrats and equate anyone else pointing it out with “negativity,” but the case can be made that while he is a bright young guy, he has a bit of growing up to do before he’s ready to go toe-to-toe with Ahmadinejad, Putin, Chavez, Castro or any of the other world leaders who have it in for us. It doesn’t hurt that Obama looks like a kid who just got his first boot camp haircut. It just makes it easier to see that he’s wet behind the ears. br> — Mike Harris br> MAJ, USA /p> p> JESUS DOESN’T LOVE YOU br> Re: James D. Bailey’s letter (under “Jesus Loves Me”) in Reader Mail’s Ronald Reagan’s War : /p>