Trying Times for the Obama Faithful

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102402336_pf.html

By David S. Broder
Thursday, October 25, 2007; A25

CHICAGO -- These are difficult days for supporters of Barack Obama. This city is filled with people who have voted for, worked for, contributed to and, in many cases, prayed for the success of the young senator from Illinois. The struggle he has had in trying to overtake Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination is wearing on their morale.

Last weekend, I heard them tell each other that while the race started months ago, it is still the early going; that the crucial days in Iowa and New Hampshire are still ahead; and that there is time for Obama to close with a rush, as he did when he came from behind to capture the nomination for his Senate seat in 2004.

But the steady drumbeat of polls showing Clinton with more support than all the other Democrats combined -- and twice as much as Obama -- is taking a toll. In their private moments, they wonder whether even Obama, gifted as he is, can pull off this feat.

Such doubts can afflict any trailing candidate's campaign, but they are particularly pronounced -- and poignant -- in this case. Obama burst onto the national stage with such high expectations, fueled by his remarkable speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, that nothing, including the presidency, seemed beyond his reach.

The elevated stature he enjoyed nationally was nothing compared with the near reverence he commands among his friends here. Those who have worked closely with him through the past decade, in politics, community affairs or the antiwar movement, exhaust the list of superlatives in speaking about him and his wife, Michelle.

They see Obama as someone uniquely positioned to heal a divided nation -- and to change the image of America in the world -- simply by virtue of his history and personality. They can visualize the headlines and television coverage around the globe if he were elected to the White House.

FULL story at link.