Obama's Street Cred

" And what did he say? Well, first he denied that I was in the book! And then he denied that it said that I said that it was a Christian nation. And then when I pulled out the thing [he had a copy of the offensive page with him] and showed it to him, he sort of blah-blah-blah-blah-blah- blah-blah. And I thought, That's who he is."

The other blast comes from Ed Rendell, which is less than shocking since the Pennsylvania governor is a big-time Hillary Clinton backer. Time's Karen Tumulty picks up on the sharp elbows thrown by the guv:

"In a recent appearance on Fox News--not exactly considered friendly territory for the Democrats--he congratulated the network for having done 'the fairest job [and] remained the most objective of all the cable networks.' In an interview with me, the governor was again in media-critic mode. 'It took Saturday Night Live to bring some fairness to this election,' Rendell said, referring to the show's now famous skit lampooning the media's crush on Obama. 'It's stunning. Does Keith Olbermann get checks from the Obama campaign?' "

Could Rendell soon be named Worst Person in the World?

Now to the question of the Obama image. Ever since his unfortunate bowling outing (shouldn't he have practiced beforehand, like debate prep?), there's been a tone that he just can't relate to working-class folks. Now this is potentially dangerous. The media once mocked George H.W. Bush for proclaiming his love for pork rinds and asking for "a splash more coffee" at a New Hampshire truck stop. Could Obama be similarly portrayed as not down with da people, despite his roots as a Chicago community organizer?

Maureen Dowd floated this notion the other day: "Keeping his tie firmly in place, he genteelly sipped his pint of Yuengling beer at Sharky's sports cafe in Latrobe and bowled badly in Altoona . . . At the Wilbur chocolate shop in Lititz Monday, he spent most of his time skittering away from chocolate goodies, as though he were a starlet obsessing on a svelte waistline."

How dare he not chow down?

Salon's Walter Shapiro, though, points out one of Obama's virtues:

"Obama . . . shares a good-government reformist zeal with Dukakis and may also be hobbled with an analogous problem in winning over lunch-bucket Democrats. But the similarities end there, since Obama may be the least likely candidate to fall for an out-of-character stunt like riding in a tank looking ridiculous. For Obama possesses something that most presidential Democrats (aside from Bill Clinton) have lacked for the last three decades -- a sense of ease and comfort with himself.

"It is not just the Republican attack machine that created the image of Democratic candidates camouflaging their inner being at the behest of their campaign consultants. From Walter Mondale playing down his liberal instincts in 1984 to Al Gore, who, in reality, did . . . go through a phony phase in the 2000 campaign of wearing earth tones, the Democrats often got caught by their lack of authenticity. (Out of a sense of mercy, we will not even mention the 2004 John Kerry campaign.) It is this trap that Hillary Clinton has fallen into with her exaggerated claims of dodging sniper fire in Bosnia.

"But Obama -- even when he gives way to ill-conceived gimmicks like his gutter-ball bowling misadventure -- has that rare ability to laugh it off with conviction."

Still, Obama seems to have learned from his food faux pas, if this Philadelphia Daily News piece is any indication: