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Concerned Democrats want Obama to take control of campaign, be more strident

New York, Sept.12 ANI: Concerned Democrats wany party presidential nominee Barack Obama to be more strident and aggressive against Republican opponents John McCain and sarah Palin.The Washington Post quotes a majority of them as saying that the Obama campaign is not pushing back hard enough against Republican attacks in a critical phase of the race.Some Democrats said Obama needed to seize control of the campaign and block McCain from snatching away his message that he was the best hope to bring change to Washington.After back-to-back attack ads by McCain, including one that misleadingly accused Obama of endorsing sex education for kindergarten students, the Obama campaign is planning to sharpen attacks on McCain and Palin in an effort to counter McCain's attempt to present himself as the candidate of change with his choice of Palin. The new tone is to be presented in a speech by Obama in New Hampshire and backed up by new television advertisements and appearances across the country by supporters.In addition, advertising themes will be pay equity for women, an issue that has particular resonance as the campaigns battle for female voters, and a more pointed linking of McCain to President Bush and Republicans in Washington.Obama's aides said they were confident with the course of the campaign and were not planning any major deviation from a strategy that called for a steady escalation of attacks on McCain as the race heads toward the debates.That response is characteristic for a campaign that has presented itself as disciplined and unflappable."The Obama message has been disrupted in the last week," said Representative Artur Davis, Democrat of Alabama. "It's a time for Democrats to focus on what the fundamentals are in this election," he added.The uneasiness among Democrats is the result of a confluence of factors in the week since McCain accepted his party's nomination in St. Paul. The selection of Palin became the defining event of the Republican convention, revving up the conservative base and drawing the spotlight away from Obama.McCain's increasingly aggressive campaign has sought to put Obama on the defensive in each news cycle, using any development at hand.A series of quick polls taken after the Republican convention have suggested that Obama has lost support among white women and independent voters. Polls taken so close to major political events are notoriously unreliable, but the Democrats remember what happened in 2004, when Republicans used the period right after Senator John Kerry's nomination to undercut him with a series of attacks. ANI