Why Sen. Barack Obama's campaign has lost traction

Once regarded as an overwhelming favorite, the Democrat has been sucked into day-to-day campaign sparring and forced to prove himself in Sen. John McCain's comfort zone of foreign policy and security. Here's what Obama needs to do to turn it around, starting with a focus on his turf — economics and other domestic issues.

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The parade of foolishness

We're into August, which can be a dazzling month in the Northwest, with many things to enjoy and be thankful for: brilliant sunsets, fresh air, sparkling forests and water, music and arts festivals in places large and small, and, not least, an economy that is comparatively stronger than the rest of the country's. But concerns and irritations conspire to break the spell.

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Footnotes to the week's trade-talks breakdown

When I wrote about international trade and the presidential campaign recently, I characterized the seven-year-long Doha Round global trade negotiation as being "stuck on neutral." As it turned out, the negotiation promptly thereafter took a negative turn.

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Trader woes

The next president will inherit a tough U.S. economy in an increasingly complicated world marketplace. Both candidates have done their share of pandering to ailing industries and workers, but simplistic campaign rhetoric about protectionism isn't going to help the man who wins the White House. Here's why.

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The good, the bad, and the vexing

Here are start-of-week cheers and Bronx cheers. First, the good stuff: Dave Niehaus in the Baseball Hall of Fame and justice at Fort Lawton.

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Fixing our big flat tire

Sound Transit, the Viaduct, 520, the Mercer Mess — everywhere you turn, there's a Puget Sound transportation problem awaiting solution. It's time for citizens to demand leadership from leaders and to push for reform of agencies and even government.

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At the top floors, the high and mighty are in denial

It's time for New York magazine editors, Seattle bank executives, and Puget Sound transportation leaders to exit their elevators — at the lobby level.

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Campaign strategy session

To appeal to moderates and independents in the next four months, Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain will seem closer on the issues than they really are. Here in Washington, the desire for change, which comes in the form of a Democratic presidential victory, could bode well for incumbent Gov. Chris Gregoire.

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Fortunate freedom

Our citizenship must be exercised conscientiously and every day, especially at the local levels of government, where we can have the greatest effect.

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The Sonics sitcom

The Sonics-City of Seattle settlement announced yesterday is what might have been expected had the parties not settled and U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman made a likely ruling that this landlord-tenant dispute should be settled monetarily. (See my Monday article).

Both sides eliminated risk, though, by settling before her ruling. The Sonics, of course, cleared out promptly for Oklahoma City. The press-conference description of the settlement by Mayor Greg Nickels, with City Council members serving as props, was a comic classic.

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A week of weakonomics

If you look away from the Sonics trial for a moment, you can see warning signs that the seemingly immune local economy is actually pretty precarious.

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Money colors the presidential campaign

Sen. Barack Obama decides to forgo public campaign financing, eliciting understandable outrage. And the wives are no longer off-limits, whether the candidates like it or not.

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The Tim Russert media response, explained

His death is receiving media treatment usually reserved for former presidents, and that's because he represented the higher standards of an era that seems to be passing away.

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Orchids and onions for a new week

First, orchids:

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Gregoire's gambling compact should shock us all

Since my return to Seattle more than seven years ago, I have noted many changes in the state and local political cultures. The most disappointing has been the degree to which supposedly "liberal" governors, legislators, mayors and others accept as business-as-usual policies and practices which are shockingly self-interested and against the interests of a majority of their constituents.

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Locals in an Obama administration

Not likely at the higher levels, despite some flattering political gestures, in large part because Washington Democratic leaders could not bring much to the table.

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Obama's V.P. headhunter is vetted himself, by the WSJ

Jim Johnson, longtime politico and former Fannie Mae chairman, is leading the candidate's search for a running mate. But he's making headlines for the wrong reasons — questionable past financial dealings.

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A historical moment at the campaign's midpoint

Sen. Barack Obama is the presumed nominee for the Democrats and will likely enter the fall the favorite over Sen. John McCain. But a lot can happen in five months, and Sen. Hillary Clinton is still a big player. Here's what to watch for after what we heard from three candidates Tuesday night.

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Lost in the blind alley of busing

The impetus for desegregation came from commendable civil rights-era reform attempts, but school busing to achieve ethnically diverse classrooms has largely failed. Understanding desegregation's history may shed light on what we can do right in the future.

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$201 million later, the Mercer Mess will still be a mess

Neither the City Council nor Mayor Greg Nickels seems to care that the Mercer Street Corridor project — realignment of the South Lake Union street grid — will do nothing to mitigate traffic between Seattle Center and Interstate 5. It will simply beautify a neighborhood virtually owned by Paul Allen.

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Love the warrior but hate the war, and other weekend ruminations

Also: Whom to blame for gas prices, kudos for the schools supe, Sound Transit's latest audit, and polygamy's free pass.

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Barack Obama widens the gap

A new Gallup Poll shows the Illinois senator is increasingly preferred by Democratic voters nationwide over Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York. But as we've said before, don't expect Clinton to withdraw any time soon.

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The M's need a smarter management team

As the team continues to occupy the bottom of the standings, it's time to look at who's at the top — of the decision-making tree, that is.

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Why Hillary Clinton should stay in the race

There's no real reason for her to step aside until the convention, argues Crosscut's national political writer. Let her finish the last five primaries. But if she fails to get the nomination, she then must embrace Barack Obama and go to work for him during the fall campaign.

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It's not over until Hillary Clinton's cash runs out

As Barack Obama takes North Carolina and Clinton narrowly wins in Indiana, it's time not for celebration or a victory concession but a look ahead at months of stalemate.

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Washington's million-dollar university president

As Mark Emmert joins two local corporate boards, boosting his yearly income well into seven figures, it's worth asking if he's really earned it. He's a prominent public face for the institution, but he's no scholar and doesn't actually run the university.

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Sound Transit did not hear us

Prop. 1 was soundly defeated, but the leadership of Sound Transit plans to deliver Son of Prop. 1 to the voters this fall. The agency better get used to rejection.

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After Pennsylvania, still a close race

Sen. Hillary Clinton won decisively, but she's still trailing Sen. Barack Obama in delegates. Next: North Carolina and Indiana.

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Kudos to journalists and Cantwell, caution to Lama lovers and trolley lines

Crosscut readers no doubt by now are ready to cry "uncle" regarding our absorption with The Seattle Times' financial problems and the perilous state of our city's daily newspapers.

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Journeymen journalists out to pasture

Third of a series: The decline of newspapers is putting talented mid-career news people on the sidelines.

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Jim McDermott's wake-up call

A court says he owes more than $1 million in a phone-eavesdropping case, and it turns out an agent of Saddam Hussein paid for his infamous 2002 trip to Baghdad. The Seattle congressman-for-life has lost his way and should be chastened by those recent events. But it's not too late for a talented politician to right himself.

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Cheers not jeers to Speaker Chopp on the Microsoft tax concession

The Columbia Basin Herald this past week characterized House Speaker Frank Chopp as being a Forrest Gump, "stupid is as stupid does" villain for opposing big proposed tax breaks for Microsoft and Yahoo. The tax concession, those companies said, were necessary to keep them from fleeing Grant County, where they have huge server farms. The requests were similar to the $3.2 billion in breaks Boeing Co. got from Governor Gary Locke and the Legislature when it threatened to take some of its assembly operations elsewhere.

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Was McDermott a 'useful idiot' on his Baghdad trip?

Local media featured this past week the story of how Rep. Jim McDermott's 2002 pre-Iraq War journey to Baghdad took place and was financed. The account does not smell right.

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Why Hillary can and should stay the course

An Obama supporter and scarred veteran of many Democratic nominating contests outlines the political calculations that keep Clinton's hopes alive.

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Politics not as usual

A seminal campaign speech and a crisis on Wall Street mark a turning point in the national conversation, with implications far and near.

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This marginal economy

Historic action by the Fed last week showed just how badly the home-loan crisis has affected broader financial markets. At ground zero is Seattle-based Washington Mutual, but it's far bigger than that now that the likes of Bear Stearns is teetering.

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After Wyoming: a reality check on the campaigns

Barack Obama won Saturday's Wyoming caucuses handily and should win Tuesday's Mississipi primary as well. Depending on which tally you believe, that will leave Obama somewhere between 110 and 125 delegates ahead of Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential nominating contest, with only a few more state contests to go. Cutting through the spin, here is what you should and should not believe about the Obama-Clinton race as it enters its next phase, beginning with the April 22 Pennsylvania primary in which Clinton is favored.

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