From a message of hope to one of bitterness

Kimberly Strassel:

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- "Yes We Can" has devolved into "Who the Heck Is This Guy?" Mr. Obama's political brilliance to date has been to use his message of hope to deflect questions about himself or his record. He'd actually created the perception that to challenge him was to challenge "hope" itself. Think back to that soaring race speech, which so successfully turned the debate toward America's shared problem, and away from Mr. Obama's individual Jeremiah Wright problem. But the San Fran comments proved one scandal too many; man and message have now been delinked.

And so nearly the whole first hour of Wednesday's debate was devoted to Mr. Obama's gun-God comments, his wisdom in sticking with a rabid pastor, his links to 1960s radicals, even his patriotism. The candidate's frustration was visible, and he spent yesterday complaining the debate was the latest in "gotcha games" that take away from the "issues." Then again, among the important "issues" for many voters are a candidate's beliefs, character and judgment. Mr. Obama will just have to get used to it.

- Among the people who now get to ask these uncomfortable questions is Mrs. Clinton herself. Granted, a full-frontal assault against Mr. Obama is dangerous territory for a woman who only recently was ducking incoming Bosnia fire, and who inches up in the unfavorability ratings with each new poll. But if Wednesday's gloves-off debate performance was anything to go by, Mrs. Clinton now sees at least a yellow light to join the Obama dissection.

- The press is no longer in the tank. Debate moderators Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos proved Mr. Obama's waking nightmare. This isn't bias, so much as a belated recognition by the media that maybe it doesn't know its subject matter as well as it might. Never underestimate the press's ability to fall back in love with a young, charismatic idealist. But for now, the gloss is off.

Condescension aside, the political point Mr. Obama was making at his fund-raiser was that Democrats need to get voters thinking about the economy, since his party struggles when the discussion is social or cultural issues. (Recall Howard Dean's 2004 moan that Southerners were so riveted on "God, guns and gays" that they wouldn't acknowledge the brilliance of his plans for education or health care.)

So there is some irony that Mr. Obama has guaranteed this political cycle will now contain a hefty focus on . . . church and guns. The latter, by the way, is an issue some Democrats still "bitterly" credit for losing Al Gore key states in 2000. Sure enough, firearms made a prominent appearance at Wednesday's debate, forcing both candidates (who've spent the past week lauding American gun "traditions") to remember they were still fighting in a liberal, gun-control primary. Their hem-and-haw answers surely left neither gun-owners nor gun-haters happy, guaranteeing future discussion.

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While some in the media are no longer in the tank others are still in there. Most of the liberal media, for example, is still trying to make proud terrorist William Ayers into a regular guy intellectual. They tend to bury the part where Ayers said he wished he had bombed more, This is not a repentant guy. They also tend to overlook Rev. Wright's blatant racism because he is a black racist. In that regard they are in the full soft bigotry of low expectations mode suggesting that many blacks believe his racist nonsense on HIV virus. Instead of taking a shame on them attitude, they try to "understand" why they are bigots.

But in Ayers and Wright Obama has chosen two people who hate this country. He seems to think we should understand their hatred as he tries to understand those who reject his message as being bitter. Instead of being a man who sees hope for this country, he has become a man who sees bitterness all around him. Byron York demolishes Obama's analogy of Ayers to Tom Coburn.

But it will be on the specifics of his positions that he will be defeated. He is dead wrong on the Iraq war. He is dead wrong on taxes and the economy. Those are the reasons he should lose.