Holiday over for Obama as VP choice looms

By Jeff Mason - Analysis

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (Reuters) - The vacation is definitely over for Barack Obama.

The Democratic U.S. presidential candidate has returned to the campaign trail from a family trip to Hawaii to face a host of challenges: the search for a vice-presidential running mate, his party's convention, and a resurgent Republican opponent.

What a difference a week makes. While Obama relaxed in Hawaii, the crisis between Russia and Georgia dominated headlines, allowing veteran Republican rival John McCain to demonstrate his foreign policy credentials.

Polls showed the race becoming increasingly tight ahead of the November 4 vote, with McCain gaining ground after a series of television ads that criticized the Illinois senator.

Jumping back into the fray over the weekend, Obama attacked McCain forcefully and decried one ad that suggested the Democrat's polices would create economic disaster.

"I've got news for John McCain: my plan's not going to bring about economic disaster. We already have economic disaster," Obama told a crowd of some 250 people on Sunday in Reno, Nevada, a battleground state in the election.

David Axelrod, his chief strategist, said Obama would continue to pound the Arizona senator over economic issues going forward, but he acknowledged last week's vacation may have hurt the Illinois senator in the short term.

"We've been campaigning for 18 months and this was the last possible time to do it," Axelrod said of Obama's holiday. "He'll be a better ... and stronger candidate down this stretch for having done it."

Better or not, some damage has been done. Observers said Obama's absence gave an opening to a Republican campaign that has finally found its groove.

"The vacation hurt in a number of ways," said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, arguing that photos of Obama bodysurfing in Hawaii while Russia was invading Georgia could end up in future Republican attack ads.

"McCain has used the past month to really get back into the game," he said. "This (vacation) allowed McCain to gain a bit of ground, even if Obama got some rest and out of the media eye, and that means this contest is a bit more uncertain than Democrats want it to be."

RUSSIA, GEORGIA, AND A BIG DECISION

Obama is aware of that uncertainty. At fund-raisers in San Francisco, he urged supporters not to "stress" and assured them he would prevail. "I will win. Don't worry about that," he said to a donors meeting that brought in a record $7.8 million.

But some of his supporters were worried. Attendees urged Obama to respond more forcefully to attacks, which the Illinois senator indicated he would do so.

Marco Romero, a small business owner in Reno, said Obama's response to the Russia crisis raised concerns. Obama made two statements about the crisis before television cameras during his vacation but took no questions from reporters.