Most of the time you find me quoting Ezra Klein, it is because I am agreeing with him. Not today:
Obama's allergy to taking questions -- both from the press and from voters -- is actually an undercovered part of this campaign.
But back in 2007, in the early and now apparently forgotten days of this campaign, town hall meetings was about the only thing Obama did. At first it worked great - really, doesn't anyone remember Iowa? - but eventually people got tired of it. so tired, in fact, that Obama started getting hit for being too professorial. "What happened to the inspiration speeches," the pundits wondered? "Had he lost his mojo," they asked?
But then Iowa and NH were history, and soon Super Tuesday called. The era of retail politics was over, and as a result, so too were the professorial town halls.
No, Ezra, it isn't an undercovered part of the campaign. Go back a few short months and you'll find plenty of people covering it. And when you look, you'll find that most of them were complaining that Obama was too heavy on policy and too light on inspiration.
Better yet, watch this clip from this weekend's 60 Minutes. About midway through this exact topic gets covered in detail.
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