Obama on attack: responses quicken as November loom

By Jeff Mason - Analysis

CHICAGO (Reuters) - He struck back at George W. Bush, took on Hillary Clinton, and reacts rapidly when criticized by John McCain.

Democrat Barack Obama, who is close to winning his party's presidential nomination, has adopted a lesson from the losing campaign of John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic candidate: when attacked, respond quickly.

"If somebody attacks you, you've got to fight back, and you've got to fight back immediately," Obama communications director Robert Gibbs said. "You can't waste any time."

Kerry, a Massachusetts senator, was slow to react to efforts aimed at discrediting his military service in Vietnam by a group called Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, and President Bush won a second term in office.

The Obama campaign has taken note.

When Bush spoke to the Israeli parliament, saying proposals to speak with U.S. adversaries were akin to appeasement of Nazi Germany, Obama -- who viewed the comment as an attack on his foreign policy goals -- came out swinging.

"That's exactly the kind of appalling attack that has divided our country, and that alienates us from the world," he told a crowd in South Dakota.

"George Bush and John McCain have a lot to answer for," he said, moving swiftly to include the presumptive Republican candidate in the November election.

The Illinois senator has not always been so quick at sharp rebuttals. Earlier in his 15-month quest for the Democratic presidential nomination, supporters worried his reluctance to attack would hurt his chances.

Not anymore.

"He's now saying: no more. He's pretty much drawing a line in the sand," said Lorian Williams, 45, at an Obama rally in Tampa, Florida. "While he's a nice guy, he's also showing he's a tough guy who's not just going to sit back and let false information" get out.

The shift has come gradually during Obama's long duel with Democratic rival Clinton, the former first lady and New York senator who was considered the front-runner until Obama's big win in Iowa, the first contest in the state-by-state nominating process.

EVOLUTION OF A CANDIDATE

Obama's response time quickened after Clinton gained traction with an ad that questioned his experience by asking who was more qualified to take a 3 a.m. phone call at the White House on an international emergency, said Daniel Smith, an associate professor at the University of Florida.

The reaction to Bush showed Obama's evolution since then and reflects his new status in the race, he said.