The Obama Campaign: Some Things Don't Turn Out As Planned

First Obama banked on the popularity of ending the war in Iraq. In 2007 he declared, “This election is about ending the Iraq War.."

The problem is that the war is no longer what this election is about. For all intents and purposes the combat has ended. We have won. When we look back at how we got here it's clear McCain was right about the surge, and Obama was wrong. Not good for Obama.

This was not how the Obama camp planned it.

In October of 2007 Obama said this:

"The main thing that we want to communicate today is that this war that we've been fighting in Iraq has got to stop, that we can no longer afford $275 million a day spent on a civil war between factions in Iraq where there is no military solution to be had, that it's time for us to begin bringing our young men and women home - they have been there long enough," Obama said at a high school.

But there was a military solution and the surge was it. If we had brought home our soldiers as Obama wanted, we would have left Iraq defeated.

That wasn't the way the Obama camped planned it.

Then there was the image that Obama was a candidate that transcends race in this county. But the Rev.Wright's videos came out and we all witnessed a racist rant against white people that shocked everyone. We witnessed conspiracy theories preached from the pulpit with white people as the villians. We learned that one of Rev.Wright's sermons had been the inspiration for the title of Obama's book, "The Audacity of Hope."
Suddenly, he didn't look above it all. He didn't see to be the racial uniter that he claimed to be in his race speech later. A wonderful speech is one thing, but what one did with one's time and who they spent their spirtual journey with tells us much more.

They thought Michelle Obama would be the perfect spouse, smart, pretty, and a good mother. But then she said twice in one day, “For the first time in my adult lifetime, I’m really proud of my country.." Which didn't sit well with those of us who have been proud of our country our entire lifetime.

That wasn't the way the Obama camp planned it.

They thought that a world tour that included the Middle East and Europe would give Obama a Presidential look and feel, but instead it made him seem arrogant and full of grandstanding and distant from Americans. Despite the adorng crowds of Europe, the trip didn't not increase his polls numbers and McCain was able to use the footage to make the point that Obama's candidancy was more about celebrity than substance.

That wasn't what the way the Obama camp planned it.

They certainly planned on beating Hillary. But they didn't realize that the down and dirty politics that it took to do it would tick off around 18 million people. They didn't realize that Hillary supporters would demand that Hillary's name be put into nomination and a floor vote at the convention. They didn't plan on being forced to headline Hillary one night and Bill the next.

That wasn't the way the Obama camp planned it.

They weren't counting on high gas and oil prices to be such a concern that Obama was forced to reverse himself to say he would approve drilling in a comprehensive package deal.

And finally they weren't planning on McCain doing so well in their first public forum together at Saddleback Church.

The Democratic Convention is coming up soon. It will be big and it will be grand. I just wonder if it will go the way the Obama camp is planning it.