The Biggest Blunders of the Obama Campaign

Last night was clearly a good night for the Democrats.  Bill Clinton was in his element and (from the portions I saw of his remarks) delivered a very effective speech. Â

I watched all of Biden’s speech (rebroadcast on FoxNews just before midnight my time) and thought the first half was moving and powerful, but the second half seemed mean and focused only on attacking John McCain.  I’m not the first to say it, but will join those who thought it as poor form* for him to call the presumptive Republican nominee his friend, then to question his judgment on foreign policy.

So that brings me to the list of the Obama Campaign’s biggest blunders.  I’ll start with that:

1. Biden questioning McCain’s foreign policy judgment, opens Democrats up to variety of GOP broadsides next week in St. Paul.
2. Obama’s delivering a campaign-style speech on foreign soil.
3. Handling Hillary.  He should have included her in his running mate deliberations.  And reached out to her more often in the days between the last primary and this week’s convention.
4. Running the ad attempting to distance himself from Bill Ayers and attacking conservatives raising the issue.  All this does is draw more attention to the Illinois Democrat’s connection with the avowed terrorist.
5. Holding his acceptance speech at Invesco Field.  Again raises the issue of his arrogance and sense of self-importance while the Greek Temple setting opens him to further mockery (more on that anon, I hope).  Even senior Democrats think this is a “high-risk endeavor.“

These blunders won’t necessarily sink his campaign. A good speech tonight could help offset some of them as could a strong fall campaign. Or similar blunders from the McCain camp.

UPDATE:  Via Reader Peter Hughes, I learn of another blunder.  According to Dick Morris, the Democrats are concentrating their fire on the wrong man: “They are so anxious to run against Bush, their animosity is so pent up, that they persist in running against a man who is not seeking a third term.”  As Glenn Reynolds would say, “Read the whole thing!”

*UP-UPDATE: In this vein, Victor David Hanson writes:

I think his personal attack on his former friend McCain’s judgment and character was a terrible mistake-it only invites comparison of Biden’s ethical meltdowns with made-up bios, plagiarism, and unethical interrogations of Supreme Court nominees with McCain’s past service; and, more importantly, will take the gloves off in the race, and earn candid like appraisals of Barack Obama and Biden.