Campaign '08: Obama on Defense

Obama, leading in the polls, has obviously decided to play defense:

Presidential rivals Barack Obama and John McCain have failed to agree on joint town hall appearances.

Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said in a statement Friday that he offered to meet McCain in five joint appearances between now and the Nov. 4 election. But only one of those was a town hall meeting.

McCain wanted them to appear together in 10 town hall meetings that would be unscripted with questions from voters in the audience.

Obama preferred one town hall, plus three traditional debates and an in-depth debate on foreign policy.

NOTE TO BARACK: Playing defense from a lead is not always the best policy, as in last night’s Laker game.