What Obama must do to win the election

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) must improve his messaging to win the presidency despite favorable election-year conditions for Democrats, members of a panel discussion hosted by The Hill and the Society for Human Resources Management concluded.

Americans are still getting to know Obama, and the challenge for both campaigns is who can define him better to voters, panelists said.

{mosads}“Four years ago, no one knew who Barack Obama was,” said The Hill’s Sam Youngman. “Right now, he’s an unknown quantity.”

Generic-ballot polls show voters prefer Democratic congressional candidates by an average of 10 percentage points, and Republicans have already lost House seats this year. But the preference has not translated into an advantage for Obama, who is in a dead heat with GOP Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) in most major polls.

Obama will have to perform well in the first presidential debate, The Wall Street Journal’s Susan Davis, another panel member, suggested.

“That will be a defining moment,” Davis said, predicting a massive TV viewership for the event. It will probably draw twice the 17 million viewers who tuned in to watch Michelle Obama speak at the convention Monday night, Davis said.

Panelist Peter Fenn, a seasoned Democratic strategist who contributes to The Hill’s Pundits Blog, noted that messaging was a strength for Obama in the Democratic primary, and helped him defeat Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.).

“The messaging was solid,” Fenn said when asked how Obama won the long primary battle. “The message of change worked.”

Obama’s money management also was spot-on in the primary, Fenn said, which is something that could help him in his battle with McCain. Obama is widely expected to have more money to spend this fall based on his high fundraising tallies so far.

Campaigns should look for a big swing, when one of the two candidates could see their message resonate with voters still trying to make up their minds whom to support. A big factor, Fenn said, would be whether voters think Obama is ready to be president or they agree with McCain that he is not.

Fenn thinks voters will turn to Obama.

“I think at some point they’re gonna make up their minds,” Fenn said. “I don’t know if it’ll tip that heavy, but I think it will tip some.”