Obama is hitting his stride in Iowa
M. Spencer Green / AP
Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama addresses the crowd at a campaign stop Saturday in Independence, Iowa.
The candidate once criticized for lacking specifics now peppers his speeches with policy proposals -- and confidence.
By Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 16, 2007
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But lately, on the stump in snow-crusted Iowa, Obama has evolved into a more confident, focused candidate than just a few months ago. His message, a call for "real, meaningful change," is the same it has been for about the last year. But his delivery is crisper, his footing more assured.
The candidate once criticized for lacking specifics now peppers his speeches with policy proposals. The candidate of hope and high ground strikes at Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton with allusions -- no negative campaigner he -- and an occasional sarcastic aside. And the candidate who once seemed alternately bemused and put off by some of the silliness of running for president now takes the occasional left-field question in his long stride.
It was not an easy transition. Obama's only previous high-profile race was a cakewalk run for the U.S. Senate in Illinois. Even then, he had plenty of time to work out the kinks and, literally, to see how things played in Peoria. By contrast, his presidential campaign "started on Broadway opening night," as Robert Gibbs, a senior Obama advisor, put it.
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Winding up a news conference Saturday, Obama was asked how he planned to top Clinton's intention to skitter across Iowa today by helicopter. He paused. Smiled broadly. "Magic carpet," he replied.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-obama16dec16,0,5908601.story?coll=la-home-center
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