Campaign 2008From The Trail
NBC/National Journal embed reporters file regular dispatches on their experiences from the trail.

Previously in this series:
• McCain Defends, But Amends, Pointed Attacks (10/14/08)
• Biden Aims To Seal The Deal In Pennsylvania (10/14/08)

Read The Entire Series

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- The big news surrounding Barack Obama lately has been Gen. Colin Powell's endorsement and the campaign's record-setting September fundraising, but two other trends on the trail bear mentioning: the increased criticism of Sarah Palin by Obama surrogates and the emergence of pie as a stump star and occasional economic metaphor.

As the tone of the race has grown predominantly negative in the final weeks, the Democratic nominee has tried to claim the high ground, inaccurately accusing John McCain of running only negative commercials even as Obama's campaign has run its share of attacks. As part of those attempts to appear above the fray, Obama has pointedly refused to address questions about the qualifications of his rival's running mate.

In the third and final presidential debate on Wednesday, when moderator Bob Schieffer asked Obama if Palin was qualified to be president, the Democrat demurred.

"You know, I think it's -- that's going to be up to the American people. I think that, obviously, she's a capable politician who has, I think, excited the -- a base in the Republican Party," he said, repeating a common line he uses when asked the question. "And I think it's very commendable the work she's done on behalf of special needs." (McCain, for his part, offered almost as mild an evaluation of Joe Biden, calling the Delaware senator "qualified in many respects" but wrong on several foreign policy and national security issues.)

But while Obama himself has largely chosen to ignore the Alaska governor, his campaign has not. In recent days, key campaign surrogates have stepped up their attacks, lambasting McCain for his choice during their introductory remarks at Obama events in battleground states.

Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill told some 100,000 people gathered for a rally at St. Louis' Gateway Arch on Saturday that voters could see the "essence of leadership" by the way the campaigns were run.

"One campaign has been stumbling, erratic, all over the map, changed positions like Missouri changes the weather. The other campaign is slow, steady, thoughtful, constructive -- the kind of leadership America needs in a crisis," she said. "As America has taken the measure of these men, they have looked at their judgment from the campaign trail. One picked one of the strongest candidates for vice president he could have picked in the United States. Well, the other didn't."

Virginia Sen. Jim Webb went further at a rally in Roanoke on Friday, using McCain's vice presidential pick to cast him as impulsive. Obama conducted a "very thoughtful process," Webb argued, and chose a man who had served in government for 30 years, while McCain had been less careful about his pick. The mention of Palin prompted a sustained wave of boos that Webb did nothing to discourage.

"Do you really think that Sarah Palin was the most qualified person in the Republican Party?" he asked. "So folks, if you are trying to talk to your friends about clear distinctions in terms of judgment, temperament, vision -- this is something you can really ask them to take a look at."

Even supporters outside the campaign have called into question McCain's choice. Speaking on "Meet the Press" Sunday, Powell said the selection of Palin had raised questions in his mind about the Arizona senator's judgment. The general -- who is not technically a surrogate since he has said he won't be campaigning for Obama -- said Palin was not ready to be president, while Biden was.

Slicing The Economic Pie

Then there's the matter of pie. Ever since he visited a Georgetown, Ohio, diner last week, Obama has been talking about pie on the stump. During that visit, Obama ordered pie and tried to convince the diner's die-hard Republican owner -- who said business was bad because of the economy -- to give the Democratic Party a try this time around.

He repeated the crowd-pleasing tale while stumping in Philadelphia on Oct. 11, trying out new lines and quips along the way, and he continued to tell the story last week. By Thursday, pie seemed to have become for Obama a symbol of wealth and opportunity.

"We need to make sure we slice the pie so everybody gets a slice; slice it the right way," he told a crowd in Londonderry, N.H., that morning. "And we've got to grow the pie. Grow it the right way."

But the talk of pie and bottom-up growth has come under fire from Republicans who argue that Obama's plans to raise taxes on the wealthy amounted to a redistribution of wealth, a charge that Obama's own comments to an Ohio plumber about wanting to "spread the wealth around" helped to fuel.

"Obama seems to like pies as much as he likes high taxes," wrote Republican National Committee spokesman Alex Conant in an e-mail after another pie story in Kansas City, Mo., this weekend. "Unfortunately, Obama is more concerned about how America's economic pie is divided than how big it is. Raising taxes on 'Joe the Plumber' or 'Joe the Baker' will only hurt the economy and eliminate jobs -- not to mention make everyone's piece of pie smaller."

In a weekend radio address, McCain linked Obama to the European "socialist leaders who so admire" him. The charges of socialism prompted a strong reaction from Obama, who suggested it was McCain whose plans to offer tax cuts for big corporations and the wealthy would redistribute wealth to people who do not need or deserve it.

"These are the folks who work hard every single day. They get payroll taxes taken out of their paycheck every single paycheck. These are the teachers and janitors who work in our schools," he said. "They're the cops and firefighters who keep us safe. They're the waitresses who work double shifts, the cashiers at Wal-Marts, the plumbers fighting for the American Dream. John McCain thinks that giving these Americans a break is socialism. Well, I call it opportunity, and there is nothing more American than that."

Still, the argument about redistributing wealth -- part of an attempt to paint Obama as a tax-and-spender who wants to grow government -- is likely to grow louder in the coming days. A woman interrupted the senator's visit to a local BBQ joint here in Fayetteville with boos and shouts of "socialist," and protesters outside an event in Asheville, N.C., earlier this month carried signs saying the same along with others showing a hammer and sickle.

During these hard economic times, though, for many voters, the idea of spreading the wealth around could end up adding to Obama's appeal. That seems to be his gamble.