Bill Carrick, a California political consultant, is puzzled by Obama's failure to catch fire, calling it "one of the great enigmas of presidential politics."
Partly, he said, that's because Clinton is a formidable opponent who has yet to make a major gaffe -- but partly, it's Obama's gentle style.
"Obama has to understand, regardless of his fundraising success and early polling, he is a long shot," said Carrick, who managed Dick Gephardt's presidential campaigns. "She is not easy to beat, and you've got to take some risks. Some of these presentations he makes about his position on the war and hers, it would take a constitutional scholar to tell you what he's really saying, he's so oblique. . . . He's too soft." (Obama, as it happens, taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago.)
Last week, the Obama campaign ratcheted up the rhetoric a bit when it fired off a memo calling Clinton a "quasi-incumbent" and accusing her of "attacking" him when she referred to his answer to a debate question about negotiating with enemies as "irresponsible and frankly naive."
But on the ground, in those intimate Iowa settings where voters come in person to take the measure of the candidate, his rhetoric is mild.
In a meeting hall at the fairground in rural Tipton, Obama was pointedly invited to criticize Clinton recently when a 65-year-old woman asked, "Why should I vote for you instead of Hillary Clinton?"
Instead, he gave a somewhat rambling answer that began by complimenting Clinton as "very capable," "smart" and "tough." He also said she would be a "vast improvement over George Bush." Then he mildly knocked her for what he called her "conventional" views on foreign policy. Five minutes later, he concluded: "If you're still unpersuaded, talk to me afterwards, 'cause I got more stuff for you, but I don't want to use up all my time."
Outside afterward, retired social studies teacher David Hunt was charged up. "I have never seen as much excitement generated by a candidate as by Obama!" said Hunt, a John Edwards supporter who was surprised to see several Republican neighbors in the room.
The afterglow, however, was short-lived.
"I am not necessarily going to switch over to Obama," Hunt said a few days later by phone. "But I was really impressed."
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robin.abcarian@latimes.com
