Opinion: And this time Barack means business

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OK, Barack Obama signals he’s taking off the gloves starting now.

The freshman Illinois senator was on CNN’s ‘Situation Room,’ where the partially bearded Wolf Blitzer was at his hound-dog best, sniffing out the slightest scent of conflict.

‘Do I come away from this interview, senator, correctly, in saying that in these last 100 days before the voting actually starts, we’re going to see a more aggressive, assertive Barack Obama trying to pinpoint the differences, sharpen the focus between you and your Democratic opposition, including Sen. Clinton?’

While gathering large, enthusiastic crowds, Obama has demonstrated some difficulty gaining political traction running from behind because he’s caught between the need to tear down the longtime front-running Hillary Clinton and maintaining his image and message of fresh, new politics and hope.

But here he comes. ‘There is no doubt that we’re moving into a different phase of the campaign,’ ...

Obama replied. ‘The first part of the campaign is to offer some biography. And give people a sense of where I’ve been and what I’m about. In this next phase, we want to make sure that voters understand that on big issues like the decision to go into the war in Iraq, I have real differences with the other candidates and that reflects on my judgment.

‘On issues like healthcare, I’ve got a track record of bringing people together that indicates I would be more successful in actually delivering on universal healthcare than the other candidates in this race.

‘And I would not be running if I was not absolutely confident that I have a better chance of unifying the country, overcoming the special interests, speaking the truth to the American people in a way that actually brings about something new, as opposed to looking backwards and simply duplicating some of the politics that we’ve become so accustomed to and that, frankly, the American people, I think, are sick of.’

But Wolf wasn’t quite done. Would Obama, he asked, consider Clinton as his vice presidential running mate?

At first, Obama said, ‘I’m not going to touch that one.’

But Wolf was determined to make his way into our blog tonight. He pressed, ‘Would she be on the short list?’

‘Sen. Clinton is a very capable person,’ Obama replied. ‘Right now my goal is to make sure that I am the nominee and that she is still the senator from New York.’

--Andrew Malcolm