Denver Dispatches - James Crabtree - The search for an economic message

Up on stage it's all smiles. But around the edges of the convention, Democratic operatives are clearly worried about their campaign. The last month has seen a gradual coming to terms with the fact of their candidate's limitations. Early hopes that Barack Obama would race to a double-digit poll lead against a seemingly hapless John McCain were quickly dashed. But no consensus exists as to why the campaign's rise has been halted. And it is this discussion - why aren't we winning, and what should we be doing about it - that dominates conversations in Denver's corridors, hotel lobbies and lavish receptions.

This morning, for instance, i popped into a breakfast briefing, in which all the talk was about the campaign's inability to land a compelling economic narrative. Where, participants asked, was the mix of big themes and practical policies which would convince wavering, mortgage-minded voters that President Obama would put money back in their pocket? (The New York Times asked a similar question in a long, interesting Sunday magazine front cover this weekend.) More importantly, what now is the campaign's fundamental message to the American people; the equivalent of Bill Clinton's "It's the economy / time for a change / don't forget about healthcare." The sense is Obama has so far struggled to put convincing policy meat on the bones of his themes of hope and change, and has found particular problems on economic issues.

Perhaps more problematically, this convention itself is proving a difficult place to deploy these details. Four nights of convention means four chances to get a message across. Yet last night's well-received Michelle Obama biopic had little in the way of policy. Its job was to introduce her and her husband as ordinary, empathetic, relate-able people. This evening's set of speeches is meant to be about the economy - but the focus will naturally be on whatever it is Hillary Clinton decides to say. Tomorrow the focus is meant to be on security, mixed in with introducing Joe Biden as running mate. The upshot? If the campaign wants to say something about the economy, it may well have to rely on the candidate himself, on the final night. Whether he will be able to do so - in amongst all the other things the speech needs to do, and with huge expectations driven by his previous speechifying - is fast becoming one of the big tests by which to judge the convention's success.

Along with Erik Tarloff, James Crabtree will be blogging for First Drafts from the Democratic convention in Denver this week