Unify and conquer

A new phase of the presidential campaign means an entirely new game plan for Democratic hopeful Barack Obama | Jamie Dean

During the final stretch of the Democratic primaries, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., already had his eye on November. Five days before his final primary contest with Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., on June 3, Obama boiled down this fall's presidential race in a fundraising email to campaign supporters: "You vs. George W. Bush."

It's a dramatic line that embodies a key piece of Obama's game plan for winning the White House in November: Make the race about voters and President Bush, as much as about the candidates running for office.

So far, the strategy has worked. Swelling crowds have packed Obama campaign events and roared when the senator criticized the president and delivered lines like: "We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change we seek."