Obama campaign manager David Plouffe called anonymous Democratic analysts' complaints about the campaign's lack of ferocity "silly" and said that their concerns have no basis in the campaign's survey data.
Plouffe was hosting a conference call this afternoon to unveil a radio advertisement highlighting McCain's connection to DHL's acquisition by Airborne Express and the role that McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, played in lobbying on behalf of the deal, which could cost Ohioans 8200 jobs. McCain supported the acquisition in the Senate.
There's a tactical debate within informed Democratic circles right now about -- well, not whether Obama should counterpunch - but whether he has counterpunched too much.
NOT reacting next week will be tough. Between Obama's vacation and his recent overseas trip, McCain has been able to spend a lot more time in battleground states like PA and MI. So far, Obama's internal polling hasn't detected much of an uptick. But when he returns, Obama will have to make up time on the ground.
The campaign recognizes that Americans are fatigued from the primaries but baseline opinions about character are being formed now and they don't want Obama to be seen as weak. But counterpunching is reactive, and some campaign officials worry that too much time has been spent responding to McCain's attacks, rather than setting the agenda.
The DHL attack is the first of several advertisements that will challenge McCain's reformer credentials directly.
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