The coming Obama makeover

Salena Zito:

Say it’s the Tuesday after Labor Day weekend, the Democrats’ convention is over, Barack Obama is their nominee, and the campaign season has officially begun.

What’s the first thing Obama should do before he hits the trail and campaigns among real Americans?

Get a political makeover.

First, he should shed the Hollywood types, celebrities and anything that even hints of cultural elitism before he takes one step into Middle America.

If he doesn't, he becomes the next Mike Dukakis, nicer looking and a better speaker, but no more in touch with John Deere voters than that guy who looked really awkward when he wore a helmet and drove a tank. Americans want to know their commander in chief looks comfortable in leadership roles, not at Oprah’s really amazing crib.

One of the side effects of such an elongated primary season is the damage done by his opponents, and Hillary Clinton has done a good job of hitting him on style and demographics. Policy wise, Obama and Clinton have never been all that far apart, but he has shown weakness in his personality and his ability to appeal to Middle America.

Yes, he won just about all of the caucus states, but the archaic caucus process largely excludes women, shift workers and the elderly -- a big patch of Democrat voters. He also won open primary contests, but those wins included great gobs of cross-over independent and Republican voters -- once again, not Middle Americans. The states he lost to Clinton cut a diagonal across the country, a geography that is home to Reagan Democrats who typically swing close elections.

Obama needs to reach out to those voters in a very genuine way. He should begin by going forward and establishing that he was raised with and still shares their values.

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There are two big ways Obama can be beat this fall: On one end of the spectrum, he is a cultural elitist who does not share America’s values; on the other end, he is an angry black man, just like the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

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Those are yesterday's problems. What is coming into focus is a man who makes up history and geography, and has bad judgment on a willingness to talk with out preconditions to nut job despots. We are starting to see what is behind the curtain constructed by his campaign about change and unity and we are seeing him change his story from day to day, and insult those who disagree with him. In other words, he is starting to look like a phony. It is easier for them to do makeovers.