It has gotten so bad for the Obama campaign that even Politico is starting to notice that Obama's got nothing much to offer voters and can't articulate an appealing message. Of course, in order to break this news to inhabitants of the liberal bubble, it casts the problem as a "stumble out of the gate" -- sticking to the beloved horse race metaphor. Heavyweights Mike Allen and Jim Vandehei write:

Obama, not Mitt Romney, is the one with the muddled message - and the one who often comes across as baldly political. Obama, not Romney, is the one facing blowback from his own party on the central issue of the campaign so far - Romney's history with Bain Capital. And most remarkably, Obama, not Romney, is the one falling behind in fundraising.

To top it off, Vice President Joe Biden has looked more like a distraction this month than the potent working-class weapon Obama needs him to be.

It was only 3 months ago that Beltway conservative George Will in essence proclaimed Obama unbeatable, urging the GOP to focus on the Senate instead.  This was a media generated delusion, an element of the hype that Obama is beloved by Americans because they won't tell pollsters they don't like him personally.  The problem with inhabiting the Beltway social system is that you start to believe the illusions peddled by the media and liberal social establishment.

The real problem the Obama campaign has is that their strategy is distraction. The fundamentals of the economy are so terrible that voters are well aware that he has failed to deliver on his campaign promises on the economy and much else.

Obama personally seems immune to negative feedback. Valerie Jarrett and Michelle keep him insulated from negative information, and to the extent the campaign follows his directives, it will continue to believe that his magical personality will persuade voters that piling on debt and demonizing business are just the medicine our ailing economy needs. It will work about as well as his magical personality has worked with the Iranian mullahs.

There's lots of interesting horse race detail in the Politico piece, by the way. The Awful Truth about Obama is sinking in throughout the Democrat establishment. Many of these people fear an electoral wipeout, with discouraged Democrats staying home.