ANALYSIS: Clinton vs. Obama, 'The Hustler' of '08?
ABC News' Sam Donaldson says the race for president is a marathon, not a sprint.
Jan. 7, 2008 — -- If you haven't seen the 1961 movie "The Hustler" starring Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason, you should — it's a classic.
As I watched the Democratic New Hampshire debate Saturday night, that movie popped into my mind.
Fast Eddie, a young, vigorous and skillful pool player, takes on the legendary Minnesota Fats, the old champion. They agree to play and the last man standing wins the pot.
Fast Eddie runs the table in game after game but as the hours go by he begins to tire. The Fat Man just keeps coming, steady and relentlessness. During one break, as Fast Eddie slumps in the corner exhausted, the Fat Man washes up, applies some talcum, comes out of the washroom and says, "Fast Eddie, let's play some pool!"
And in the end, the Fat Man walks out the winner.
Let's face it — Barack Obama is gangbusters. He has patented the issue: change.
He has the common touch: a winning way person to person. He has the charismatic public rallying persona — not since Martin Luther King Jr. spelled out his "dream" at the Lincoln Memorial (and I was there to hear it) has an orator so mesmerized his listeners.
But what about the Fat Man?
