Careful...

I'm not trying to stir up controversy when the most contentious back forth in the Presidential campaign today centered around Barack Obama's pathetic bowling skills (Hillary had a cute April Fool's Day riff on it ). Really. But after annointing Obama with pixie dust in my last post, I'm sending up the caution flag today. After a strong rebound from the Rev. Wright stuff, Obama's gotten a little sloppy.

First, he made a serious gaffe in views expressed on abortion. He said that girls who make a "mistake" shouldn't be "punished with a baby...". Not exactly family values. If Obama gets to the general, he can expect to see that sound bite played, oh, a few hundred times. Second, he put out an ad that goes after the oil companies. The ad claims that he doesn't take any special interest money from big oil, so he can do something about those huge profits. Unfortunately, these kinds of claims are risky because they invite scrutiny. Which is Factcheck.org's bailiwick. Their examination of the ad's accuracy isn't particularly flattering to Obama.

Third, he was uncharacteristically tongue-tied when asked a question about the kind of troop presence he would have in Iraq. His answer was not at all clear and at one point he had trouble saying "diplomatic corps". It sounds picky, I know, but when people are questioning your readiness as Commander-in-Chief, you have to pour those answers out of you like Guiness Stout. Finally, he was challenged on a decade-old issues survey he took when he was running for Illinois State Senator. His answers in 1996 displayed a progressiveness from which he has tried to distance himself in this campaign. The problem is, his story has changed about the questionnaire. It's gone from 'I didn't even see it', to 'I saw it, but aides filled in the answers' to ...you get the picture. Here's the whole story.

None of these things are all that egregious in the rough and tumble world of Potus politics. I mean, he bowls a 37 in his tie and everyone laughs. And he still draws 20,000 at Penn State--outside. But the danger for Obama is this: he's operating under a different set of standards; standards he has set for himself. He is running as the un-politician. So everytime he slips up, or gives a typical politician-style explanation, or isn't on top of his game, he runs the risk of being perceived as just another politician. And if that's what he is, then folks will say,"Well I might as well vote for the politician who really knows how to play that game." And that would be Hillary Clinton.

Fortunately for Obama, Hillary takes two steps forward (talks to striking truckers, gives a great speech before the PA AFL-CIO) and one big step back (gets exposed for her campaign's failure to pay, ready for this?, health insurance premiums for her staff. Can anyone say "mandate"? ).

So, maybe Obama is Teflon Man. But be careful. When there's enough heat, things still get sticky.

What do you think might really hurt Obama? Talk about this or anything else by clicking 'comments' below, bypassing the Google sign-up and hitting the nickname or anonymous button.