The Reporter Who Speaks for Obama

In light of Obama's new anti-smear Web site, this report from the Chicago Sun-Times's Lynn Sweet is enlightening:

"When I phoned the Obama press shop a few times in recent weeks to check out rumors about whether there was a videotape with Michelle Obama using the word 'whitey,' the campaign declined to issue a denial or to pass along the question to Michelle's staff to find out what might be fueling the rumors.

"That's been a standard tactic in dealing with the mainstream press. Unless there is some evidence, ignore the matter and reporters for mainstream outlets probably won't publish anything about racially charged language without proof."

Peggy Noonan has thoughts on McCain's age, beginning with his speech the night Obama sewed it up:

"It should not count against a man that he has not fully mastered the artifice of his profession. Then again, he should have nailed the prompter by now. Such things show a certain competence. Voters are slower to trust you with big things if they see a lack of skill in small things . . .

"Mr. Obama is ahead 47% to 41% in this week's Wall Street Journal/NBC poll, and no one is surprised. Everyone knows he's ahead. Everyone knows this is a Democratic year. But I think there are two particular subtexts this year, or perhaps I should say texts. One, obviously, is youth versus age. This theme is the clearest it's been since 1960, when the old general who'd planned the Normandy invasion found himself replaced by a young man who had commanded a rickety patrol torpedo boat in World War II."

Did Obama make more than a minor mistake in picking his VP screener? David Corn sees a larger context:

"The selection of Jim Johnson was itself troubling--whether or not Johnson did anything wrong regarding his dealings with Countrywide. He's a longtime Democratic Party insider, a 'big-business Democrat,' as Craig Crawford put its, who headed Fannie Mae in the 1990s and forged a close relationship with Countrywide. He's no agent of change in Washington.

"The Democratic Party is full of 'wise' men and women who jump between government jobs, campaigns, and well-paid private gigs. They can be campaign strategists one year, and corporate consultants or lobbyists the next--or sometimes, as in the case of Mark Penn, both at once. They are part of Washington's permanent establishment. And some will be making a beeline to the Obama campaign, now that he's the party's presumptive nominee.

"To keep his message of change clear and honest, Obama is going to have to say no to these folks, even though they might come with experience and the best of intentions."

Of course, you don't want folks without a day's worth of experience, do you?

Howard Kurtz hosts CNN's weekly media program, "Reliable Sources."