MAYBE IT’S AS SIMPLE AS THIS

Paul Krugman wrote an op-ed in today’s New York Times calling for Barack to show passion when it comes to the economy. I might go further and say that he needs to show passion with respect to at least one or two issues involving the economy and at least one or two issues involving international affairs.

For a young statesman to inspire a huge portion of the American public, as Barack will need to do in order to be elected, passion is a must. He showed that passion in his stump speeches earlier in the year, but it has been largely absent from his recent performances. That much change.

Barack will win or lose depending on what he says in his campaign ads and his upcoming debates. The one big speech at the Democratic Convention can only do so much for him – the other performances, collectively, will be much more important.

When Barack enters a debate, is he prepared to show honest-to-God indignation – not merely professorial disagreement -- at the way the GOP has handled the war and the economy? Is he prepared to demonstrate with fire that John McCain has sold out and checked his maverick past at the door? Is he prepared to prove that candidate McCain and President Bush disagree on virtually nothing, and that McCain is rapidly assembling the administration of Bush III? Is Barack prepared to identify particular facets of his domestic and foreign agenda in which his heart is engaged every bit as much as his mind?

More to the point, would doing the above come naturally to him? That may be the single most critical question for the fall.