Obama and Clinton are like two dance partners - one seemingly can't make a move without the other doing the same. That's ultimately good news for John Edwards -- who has a chance to make a break between the two -- but this week, Clinton and Obama feature similar ads focusing on Social Security:

Obama's ad effort this week is better than his "America's Back" last week, in that it dispenses with platitudes and offers some specifics on his plans to fix the system. But Hillary still offers the better ad. It's geared at a specific constituency that votes -- the elderly -- while Obama seems to be talking to baby boomers, who probably aren't that worried about their benefits yet. The Obama campaign also continues its habit of making its candidate the centerpiece of every ad -- Obama talks to the voters! -- which makes it hard sometimes to ratchet up the emotion.

The bottom line is that Hillary's ad makes an emotional link to voters. Obama offers them a "hard truth:" He won't put his finger to the wind and refuse to make the hard choices on a difficult issue. The problem is that voters want you both to listen to them and make the hard choices. In these ads, Hillary is the listener; Barack is the truth-teller. If I were old and worried about the loss of my benefits, I know the candidate I'd support.

To read Steven Stark's complete "Presidential Tote Board" blog, go to www.thephoenix.com/toteboard/