Obama's Opportunity

Mary Mitchell, Sun Times, RCP says Obama missed an opportunity last night to energize the black vote. Perhaps so. He's running even with Hillary in the polls for that segment of the electorate and may not be able to consolidate his gains.

But his refusal to pander in this forum may have earned him a few independent, and Latino, votes:

"We live in a society that remains separated for opportunities for African Americans, for Latinos," he said. "It is critical for us to recognize that there are going to be [expectations] on the parts of African Americans and other groups to take personal responsibility to rise up out of the problems that we face. ... There has to be a political will in the White House to make that happen. That's the reason why I'm running for president."

The problem is, as always, his talk is more centrist (and mushy) than his solutions and his voting record. And his reason for running for president will not persuade any serious person he merits the job.

UPDATE: Another missed opportunity, Michael Gerson, WaPo, RCP on Obama's preaching to the liberal choir on religion:

For Democrats, the speech was a class in remedial religion. But Obama still missed an opportunity. By speaking at a gathering of the United Church of Christ -- among the most excruciatingly progressive of Protestant denominations -- he was preaching to the liberal choir. And he did not effectively reach out to an evangelical movement in transition.

Younger voters in this group are more pro-environment but still very much pro-life. Gerson gives some advice.

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