Now that Barack Obama has decided to ratchet up the contrast with Hillary Clinton, it occurs to me that perhaps he might want to take on a Republican or two, as well. Last night’s G.O.P. debate was a reminder, in case anyone had any doubt, of just how convinced leading Republicans are that Clinton will be the Democratic nominee. If Obama wants to take on the Clinton inevitability frame, he could do worse than taking on the strongest proponents of the Clinton myth directly. Picking a fight with someone like Rudy Giuliani would show Democratic voters that he’s got the chops to go head to head with the G.O.P.’s toughest contender, as well, and also that his message of post-partisan unity does not mean making compromises with someone like Giuliani on foreign policy.

–Garance Franke-Ruta

Garance Franke-Ruta is a former senior editor at the Prospect. Her work has also appeared in The Washington Post, The Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and The Wall Street Journal, among other publications. She was a 2006 recipient of a fellowship at the Joan Shorenstein Center on Press, Politics, and Public Policy at Harvard University.