"It" trampled on Obama's positive message and reinforced a negative one instead.
The fact that you likely know what "it" is that I am referring to merely underlines the point. The subliminal caption to the photos of Obama and Clinton seen "together" at the SOFU that will ultimately linger is: "On second thought, you are not likable enough Hillary". In politics this is called a self inflicted wound, and candidates who make too many of them tend to lose more elections than they win, and that is really why it matters. That's the big deal.
At the Nevada debate, when Barack Obama was asked about the alleged mean spirited comment he made about Hillary Clinton's likability at an earlier debate, Obama made a point to express regret over how it sounded. Clearly, he understood that his prior comment became a campaign liability:
"WILLIAMS: But another given was at the last televised debate, when you, in a comment directed to Senator Clinton, looked down and said, “You’re likable enough, Hillary.”
That caused Frank Rich to write, on the op-ed page of the New York Times, that it was “your most inhuman moment, to date.” And it clearly was a factor and added up.
Senator Obama, do you regret the comment, and comments like that, today?
OBAMA: Well, I absolutely regret it because that wasn’t how it was intended. I mean, folks were giving Hillary a hard time about likability. And my intention was to say, “I think you’re plenty likable.”
(LAUGHTER)
And it did not come out the way it was supposed to...."
http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:Lur8YD7DqBQJ:www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/jan/15/debate-transcript/+%22Senator+Obama,+do+you+regret+the+comment,+and+comments+like+that,+today%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=usNow, through his own behavior at the SOTU address, intentionally or unintentionally, fairly or unfairly, Obama has given new life to a damaging old liability. Obama may write it all off as "gotcha journalism" but there is an old saying that rings true for many; "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."
The Obama campaign has issued an explanation for "the snub", probably the best one possible under the circumstances; Barack Obama attempted to handle a potentially awkward encounter by giving private space to Senator Kennedy and Senator Clinton to interact. It is plausible. Though I and others can find reasons to question the likelihood of that explanation telling all or even the most relevant part of the actual true story, I'll leave that aside. Let's assume there never was anything more to this incident than that, and that what actually happened has now been twisted beyond recognition in the telling.
Still, here is the bottom political line: For Obama not to realize the controversy it would kick up if he appeared to be avoiding contact with Clinton while she was shaking hands with everyone around him, including Ted Kennedy who had just endorsed him over Hillary, is a major political blunder. This wasn't like tripping over his words in a speech, this was basic. Hillary Clinton knew she likely would run into Barack Obama at the SOTU, and he sure as hell knew also. They both needed pre-plans for how they would handle that eventuality.
How Obama and Clinton interacted with each other was certain to be reported on. Had they both executed a small courtesy smile and hand shake, it would have been a small inconsequential toss in to the coverage of the night. At worse it would have been neutral. But Obama went out of his way to shake George Bush's hand, he should have known not to go out of his way to avoid shaking Clinton's. Press were everywhere and some of them no doubt were assigned to closely follow each of the presidential candidates during the entire event. That all was completely predictable.
If Obama's Plan A was to hope he somehow could avoid direct contact with Clinton without it being obvious that he was avoiding her, that plan was dead the moment he saw that she and Kennedy were greeting each other right next to him - he certainly was not oblivious to that. From that moment forward politically he should have known that the gracious AND EXPECTED thing to do would be to greet her also, and from that moment on, politically, it should have become his business to make sure that he did. Obama needed Plan B. If risking a perception of snubbing Clinton was always in his plans then his political instincts were sorely lacking. If he had no plan at all for that contingency then his political instincts were lacking even worse.
Obama just stepped on a full days worth of very positive media coverage coming from Ted Kennedy's endorsement of him and replaced it, at least in part, with a very sour seeming story instead. A candidate can't afford to do those things during a Presidential election.
But the problem for Obama with this incident goes deeper still then that. His campaign is fueled in part by the perception that he and only he can lead us to the promised land of a more unified America, out from the wilderness of constant divisive acrimony, partisan sniping, and petty political egos that so many Americans are so thoroughly fed up with. Perhaps he can make that a reality but for now it is only his image and his word that we have to go on to guess if Obama is up to that huge task. During that New Hampshire Debate, Obama's word took a hit when he spoke "you're likable enough Hillary". At the State of the Union Address Obama's image took a hit when photos showed him turning his back to Hillary Clinton.
The deepest problem for Obama is this. If he can not convince voters that he is able to rise above "petty political egos" with a rival within his own Democratic Party who agrees with him on almost every issue of substance, if the campaign that he is part of divides the Democratic Party more than it has been since before Bill Clinton got elected, how will Obama convince America that he can heal the bitterness that now divides Republicans from Democrats?
Obama set the standard himself, so it should be no surprise if ultimately he is the one most measured by it, and upon which his own political fortunes rest. It was just one night in a long political campaign, but it was not a good night for Barack Obama.