Obama, Throwing Heat

RALEIGH, N.C., -- Monday was the first day of the rest of your campaign.

And it was hot. As in, 101 degrees. And here at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds, amid the funnel cakes and "Barrel of Fun" rides, you could work up a good sweat waiting to pass through the magnetometers.

The first sign that Barack Obama was in general-election mode was inside the cavernous expo center, on the huge blue billboard that served as his backdrop: "Change That Works for You." It's a subtle tweaking of his primary slogan; now it's no longer about him, it's about you.

And it's no longer about Hillary Clinton. A bit odd, after the endless primary season, to cover Obama now as the undisputed Democratic nominee, no longer dueling the woman who promised to be ready on Day One. Although he did begin by paying tribute to her "historic" effort, which I imagine we'll keep hearing as he tries to appeal to HRC's voters.

One other oddity: Obama had John and Elizabeth Edwards here, along with half a dozen governors, including Virginia's Tim Kaine and Maryland's Martin O'Malley, but didn't invite them on stage. People in the crowd couldn't see them. Ergo, no photo op.

The kickoff in this red state was an economic speech that contained no new economics. But Obama came out swinging, pummeling John McCain on tax cuts, housing and health care in a way that signaled he plans to stay on offense. To my ear, he spent more time on the attack and less on detailing his proposals, than in any other speech I can think of.

Obama's speech was sprinkled with sound bites--McCain would turn President Bush's housing approach of "too little too late" into "even less even later," his health-care plan only takes care of "the healthy and wealthy"--that elicited the desired applause. He also engaged in some selective statistics, denouncing the McCain tax cuts as outrageous because they would save Exxon-Mobil $1.2 billion.

Before ripping into McCain for a "full-throated endorsement of George Bush's policies," Obama allowed that McCain can "legitimately tout independence from his party" on congressional earmarks and climate change. A hat tip to your opponent can sometimes make your charges sound less indiscriminate and more credible.

Obama said it was not a conservative vs. liberal argument, but it sure sounded that way.

After the speech, the media contingent had the audacity to hope for a cool ride to the airport. Tragically, the A/C on the bus was kaput. So much for the glamour of the campaign trail.

"Senator Barack Obama, with the Democratic stage to himself for the first time, began a two-week assault on Senator John McCain's economic policies in a series of battleground states on Monday, moving to define the general election campaign by focusing on the economy as the central theme," says the New York Times.

"Mr. Obama assailed Mr. McCain, the likely Republican nominee for president, for what he characterized as a dangerous ignorance of economic matters. His remarks signaled how he plans to pound away at his core argument: that electing Mr. McCain would mean four more years of what he termed the failed economic programs of the Bush administration.