The Brilliance Of The Obama Campaign

I'm not going to lie to you, and say that the Obama campaign has been right in every one of their decisions this campaign season. They've made some blunders big and small since February of 2007. But they've also had a pretty damn good track record, especially on critical issues where they defied skeptics and were proven right in the end.

With that, I'm going to toss together my list of the best and not-so-best decisions of the Obama campaign. Considering where they are today, about to claim the nomination in front of the entire world, ahead in the polls, ahead in enthusiasm, ahead in fundraising, their best decisions have obviously outweighed their worst ones.

Not-So-Great Decisions:

1. Failing to vet Reverend Wright in early 2007.

2. FISA flip-flop. Yes, we aren't seeing any ads about Obama being "soft" on wiretapping, but that hasn't stopped the GOP from running other smear ads instead. If Obama had held strong, the base would be a bit more fired up and he would have raised an extra $20 million in June alone.

3. Releasing the name of VP Joe Biden at 3 am on a Friday night. Thursday or Friday afternoon would have made a bigger splash. Suspense is one thing, but those days of media saturation would have been a great intro to Joe. Also, it would have been nice for the news to be broken by text message, as was planned, instead of by the media.

3. Obama's "bitter" comment. While true, was an unfortunate gift to the Hillary and McCain campaigns.

4. Troop-gate. Obama probably should have visited the troops on his own in Germany, then dared the McCain camp to criticize him for it.

5. Hesitancy to go on the attack. I know, the rope-a-dope might turn out to be brilliant in the end. But with a candidate as thin-skinned and as volatile as McCain, keeping him on the defensive over "nation of whiners", "100 years in Iraq", "Czechoslovakia" and other mega-blunders during August would have been a good idea.

As you can see, no huge blunders in strategy or messaging. The Rev. Wright fiasco hurt the worst, but then again maybe Obama wouldn't have won Iowa if the Rev. Wright videos had come out earlier. We'll never know.

Best Decisions:

1. Refusing Public Funding. We've already seen outside Swift-Boat groups funded by right wing billionaires begin their smear ads against Obama. While Obama was criticized by the media for his decision to raise unlimited funds, he has been proven right. His ability to raise funds from small donors is the only reason he'll be able to compete effectively against the Republican machine these next two months.

2. Investing in the Ground Game. You don't see it in the news coverage, but the Obama campaign is running the biggest grassroots voter registration campaign in history. Their get-out-the-vote efforts in November will be legendary.

3. Picking Joe Biden. The other tops names, except for long-shot possibilities like Al Gore or John Kerry, would have been disastrous. Hillary is still a mixed bag -- I'm convinced she would pull in older white women, but she could also drive away independents and fire up the Republicans. I think Joe Biden is a fantastic candidate with unparalleled experience who will wear well on people. Evan Bayh, Tim Kaine, Kathleen Sebelius, Bill Richardson -- those folks just don't bring the magic mix that Biden does.

4. Making Amends With the Clintons. The two Clinton speeches at the convention were among the five most important (the others being the Obamas' and Biden's). The drama was annoying to those of us wishing for the Clinton drama to end, but the suspense made the convention that much more dramatic and news-worthy. The Clintons have been redeemed (did you see the 5-minute standing ovation for Bill last night?) and the party is once again united and more powerful than before.

5. The "More Perfect Union" speech. It's impact can't be underestimated. Obama took on the greatest crisis of his campaign and dealt with it as only he can -- by giving a historical speech on race in America. This speech saved his candidacy and took the wind out of the Rev. Wright scandal.

6. The Overseas Trip. The trip was an amazing and resounding success. You couldn't really ask for anything more. He hit all the right countries, was adored by world leaders, and had no gaffes whatsoever.

7. House-gate. Using McCain's own words against him, to turn him into a national joke, has set the Republicans on the defensive for the past week. This is how to run an offense-based campaign. Brilliant.

8. Invesco Field. If Obama's speech had been set in the Pepsi Center, it would have just been another speech. Instead, it is becoming an insane mega-event, what HuffPo is calling the "SuperBowl of Speeches". The stakes are high for a legendary address by Obama, but there is risk too. One thing is for sure: if the McCain campaign tries to stop this train with their VP announcement, they will be run right over. What do you think will be the headline tomorrow? "McCain Picks Pawlenty" or "Obama Accepts Nomination As First African-American Candidate Before Crowd Of 80,000"?

9. Counter-attack. Remember Swift-Boater Jerome Corsi, whose 2004 anti-Kerry book helped win the election in 2004? This time around he set his sights on Barack Obama, and got pulverized. The Obama campaign made sure that every news outlet knew what a liar and a fraud Corsi is, and he's quickly turned into a non-story.

10. Podiums. I know this is my pet issue, but I'm very glad that the first presidential debate will be at podiums. McCain looks much worse waving his small arms and acting grouchy at a podium, while Obama looks commanding. After Saddleback McCain has higher expectations, but I don't think he'll meet them.

Because the best decisions will have much more impact going forward than the not-so-great ones, the Obama campaign is in very good shape as we head into September.