Obama's Failure in Philly

Make no mistake, I have no fish to fry in this shindig. I truly believe that Hillary Clinton is, as Dick Morris says, 'the most dangerous woman in America,' and that Barack 'Pennsylvanians-Marry-Their-Cousins-And-Take-Baths-Only-Once-Per-Month' Obama is worse than she is.

Thus, I have absolutely no reason to favor one over the other.

The Philly Debate on Wednesday night, however, demands an assessment of Obama, given his glaring misstatements and the resulting drop in the polls.

The question, therefore, is, did Obama redeem himself in the eyes of most Pennsylvanians since he all but called them a bunch of imbecilic religious fanatics with guns?

The answer in a word is 'No.'

Obama inadvertently opened a small and shortlived window through which we could see his true feelings and views when he made those now-infamous remarks in San Francisco. He is an elitist who cannot connect with the common people throughout the heartland of America.

And even worse, he exhibits an air of snobbery about the type of religious expression chosen by the vast American heartland--a spirituality that is worlds apart from his ultra-liberal United Church of Christ in Chicago. Further, this snobbery is expressed toward the gun culture in which most of these folk participate.

This is simply a fact of life that is as inherent to who Obama is as his bi-racial upbringing.

Unfortunately for him, the words Obama chose to express his views were patently paternalistic and bigoted. And he must have forgotten that he is running against a Clinton when he uttered them.

He certainly didn't forget during the debate Wednesday night. Hillary made certain that Obama was forced to deal with his views in front of the cameras. She confronted him relentlessly throughout the debate, and in the end she essentially had him for lunch.

In short, Obama has played right into the Clinton playbook. It doesn't matter in 'the Clinton way' how hypocritical Bill or Hillary can be since both have more skeletons in the closet than a mob boss. The only thing that matters is to seize the gaffes and mistakes of the opponent, in this case Obama, and milk them for all they are worth.

It isn't that Obama didn't have it coming. He fully deserved every bit of righteous indignation and shock that Hillary sent bouncing his way.

But the scenario that led to tonight's slugfest is prime breeding ground for a very effective Clinton knockout. These sorts of things are tailor-made for Hillary, and she wasted no time using it to her advantage.

Thus, my assessment is not so much that Clinton 'won' but that Obama lost badly. The Pennsylvania primary is essentially over, and the only thing left to see is how badly she beats him.