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Obama's main problem is not his skin color; or his age; or his experience or lack thereof. His biggest problem is that he has failed to fill in the blanks of which there are many. I have never seen a candidate who has more question marks hovering over him and he knows it, and his campaign managers know it. Without specifics as to what change Obama intends to bring about; what page he wants to turn in which book; and how he intends to do it, he will not win the votes of anyone but the young and enthusiastic and the educated elite who don't necessarily want for very much anyway but truly get off on supporting a candidate who could pass for a black version of Gary Cooper.
What Obama might very well face, once SC is over with, is a mountain too high to climb, because Hillary Clinton is the ultimate fill-in-the-blanker and she has hard support from the base, from people who have suffered economically, from Latinos *who will likely come out in great numbers to vote for her* and from women, especially from women.
Obama has about ten days to draw considerable numbers of these contingencies away from Hillary and the voters within those contingencies have some questions which, so far, have not been answered by Obama:
1. I am a woman. If I choose Obama, what is in it for me?
2. I am a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat. Why are you throwing President Clinton under the bus and opening up a dialogue about President Reagan? That scares me Obama. Please be specific.
3. I am a Latino. If I vote for Obama, does that mean his huge black following will encourage him to forget about me and all of us Latinos (who aren't all that popular among African Americans?)
4. I am in need of things and so is my family. After Obama's speeches which make me feel almost euphoric, I feel insecure again.
Obama played hard to the college circuit across the country. Fourteen thousand to forty thousand people attended each rally in the early days of his campaign. He was heralded as the absolute savior. Today the reality has set in that it wasn't enough. The February 5th state elections will bring out women, rank and file Democrats and Latinos/Asians and so far, they register hard support for Hillary.
I, too, am waiting for Obama to fill in the blanks. Even though I realize it was never his intention to do so, at least not in the meaty, policy-wonky way that Hillary has always done. That "visionary" thing has a downside. It really needs fuel to keep it going.
