In his piece yesterday about Barack Obama in the Washington Post ("Too Cool to Fight?"), columnist Richard Cohen said something profound. While discussing the concept of "swiftboating," Cohen pointed out that swiftboating isn't merely about smearing one's opponent; nor is it merely about spreading falsehoods. The essence of swiftboating, Cohen wrote, is taking your opponent's greatest strengths, and turning them into negatives, liabilities. John Kerry, for example, was so dumbfounded that someone would challenge his stellar war record, he felt it was unnecessary to vigorously defend himself against the charges--a decision he now sorely regrets.

Likewise, who would have thought that the McCain campaign would treat community organizing not as something that embodies basic American virtues like duty, self-sacrifice and commitment to justice, but rather as something worthy of contempt? Who would have thought that inspiring millions of Europeans to once again believe in the U.S., would be treated by McCain and company as somehow un-American, and evidence of empty celebrity? And who would have thought that the candidate who excelled at Harvard and became president of the Law Review would be seen as "elitist," while John McCain, who finished fifth from the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy, and Sarah Palin, who went to six different colleges in six years, would get a free pass?

In considering this Orwellian state of affairs, one has to conclude that swiftboating works not simply because of the virulence of the swifterboaters, it also depends on the passivity of the swiftboatees. It is for this reason that Cohen takes Barack Obama to task for a disappointing, namby-pamby performance on George Stephanopoulos, during which Obama seemed to lack any fight, any passion, regardless of how outrageous the smear against him. When asked whether McCain had picked a running mate who was "capable of being president," Obama could only muster a wan, "Well, you know, I'll let you ask John McCain when he's on ABC." Even Obama's strongest backers have to admit that this is pretty mealy-mouthed stuff. Cohen reached the same conclusion that I reached in many previous blogs, that Obama relies far too heavily on his trademark "cool," and is too slow to anger, too reluctant to fight. Come on Barack, where's the outrage?

There is an interesting parallel between Barack Obama and the great tennis player and humanitarian, Arthur Ashe. Ashe grew up in a very segregated Richmond, Virginia, and as a promising teenage tennis player, wasn't allowed to play at many of the clubs in Richmond. When he was allowed into tournaments, Ashe knew that he could not engage in any racquet throwing, arguing over line calls, or moments of petulance--standard etiquette for his white counterparts. Ashe knew instinctively that he had to be the perfect gentleman, lest he give the good ole boys reason to kick him out of the tournament. As a result, Ashe became, throughout his life, a model of comportment, and diplomacy. These traits, combined with Ashe's intelligence and empathy, were integral to the humanitarian work that Ashe did in South Africa and elsewhere.

All too often, however, people who are thoughtful, reflective and empathic are mistakenly seen as weak. Even Ashe's contemporary, Billie Jean King, an otherwise very wise woman, once said derisively about Arthur Ashe, "I'm blacker than Arthur is," perhaps the dumbest thing she ever said. My point is this: calm and diplomacy are great traits to own, but there are certain times in life where it is passion and fight that carry the day. I believe that Obama is currently in the fight of his life, and he needs to recognize this and squarely engage the opposition.

Since the early days of the primaries, I've maintained that the most significant moment of the campaign was the heated argument Obama had with Hillary on stage in South Carolina. People have forgotten that before that memorable moment, even the black community had not fully gotten on board the Obama campaign. But Obama finally reached the boiling point in South Carolina, after Bill Clinton called Obama's opposition to the war a "fairy-tale," and after Hillary put out an ad claiming that Obama supported the policies of Ronald Reagan. Losing his temper in the South Carolina debate was the best thing that ever happened to Obama. The public got to see that he did have some fight, some fire, and it made him all the more human and authentic. That moment was a game-changer for Obama.

The problem is, we have not seen enough of this. The only other time during the entire campaign that I can remember Obama rising to anger was when Hillary, after repeatedly refusing to say that Obama was ready to be president, suddenly decided that the "dream ticket" would consist of her as president and Obama as veep. The raw cynicism of this got Obama's dander up once again, and he mocked Hillary's flip-flop beautifully. He needs to display more of this kind of passion.

So where should the campaign go from here? First, Obama/Biden should absolutely refuse to be boxed in by the fact that Sarah Palin is a woman. They should go after Sarah Palin in the same manner that they would go after John McCain. Yes, temporarily Sarah Palin has rallied the McCain troops. But in picking someone so manifestly unprepared to be president, McCain has created a vulnerability for himself large enough to drive a truck through. Obama and Biden have simply been slow to exploit it. The notion that Palin is ready to be president, but isn't ready for Meet the Press, is another one of those Orwellian absurdities that should be trumpeted by Obama, Biden, or both, every five minutes. I can hear Palin apologists already, saying, "But she's being interviewed by Charlie Gibson!" Fiddlesticks, that's a far cry from maintaining a daily dialogue with the press and with the voters, something one would expect of any candidate.

In keeping with this, the Obama campaign ought to start keeping a daily tally of the number of days that the McCain is hiding Palin from the Sunday talk shows. They should make a big deal out of it, declaring in a daily press release:

"It's been 10 days and counting since Sarah Palin has been in the McCain 'witness protection program.' When will she come out of hiding?"

The Obama campaign should beat this issue like a drum, because Palin's lack of readiness to be president is the ultimate issue, more important than her support for the "bridge to nowhere," more important than her faux opposition to pork barrel projects, more important than her denial of global warming. Smoking out Sarah Palin, and by extension, John McCain's judgment, should be project number one for the remainder of the campaign. And it's become fairly clear that Hillary won't do it. Hillary is content to continue her perfunctory, joyless, I'm-only-out-here-because -I-have-to-be style of campaigning. Now that Hillary has opted to stick her thumb in Obama's eye by professing such loyalty to the "sisterhood" that she can't take on Sarah Palin, the time has come for Obama to move beyond "nice." He needs to find his inner toughness.