This article, by respected pundit Victor David Hanson set my travel weary brain wandering ahead to the race for the presidency, post primaries.  Mr. Hanson postulates;

"I’ve now listened to almost every Democratic debate, watched at least three long Obama speeches on C-Span, and read his website. There are two messages I distill from all that.

One, he is an extremely good speaker, quick and humorous, perhaps the best natural orator and politician we’ve seen since Ronald Reagan and JFK—far better than Bill Clinton, inasmuch he rarely loses his temper or pouts on camera. So far, in Clinton fashion, he has not started shaking his finger.

I note in passing he almost never receives hostile questions. His debates have been limited to those with like-thinking liberal Democrats,. His political races were against other liberals or a weak conservative. And in general the press has bent over backwards to be considerate. Bottom line: we have no idea how he will react when crossed, although Hillary’s dig about his plagiarism in the Texas debate made him squeamish and moan."

It should be interesting to see what and how well Mr. Unflappable Obama does against Mr. Mercurial McCain.  How will the "straight talk" McCain is famous for, play against the flowery rhetoric without substance we're accustomed to hearing from Obama?  McCain has already made a faux pas, in the opinion of one black caller to a radio program hubby and I heard as we were traveling.  He somehow heard this comment to mean "Obama was stupid";

"Washington (AFP) — Presumptive Republican nominee John McCain Wednesday branded Barack Obama "naive," in a pre-emptive strike designed to paint his possible Democratic White House rival as a national security novice.

The charge signaled that Senator McCain, a 71-year-old former navy pilot, Vietnam prisoner of war, and Iraq hawk, will try to frame any general election clash as a test of Obama's commander-in-chief credentials in a time of war."

Note; naive and stupid have two totally different meanings!  What would be really stupid is assuming Obama is stupid, and McCain is not doing that, I'm sure!  Note #2; there is no mention of Obama's age...need I say more?

The key for McCain & Company to concentrate on at this point in the campaign is how do you go after Obama without appearing to "go after" Obama?  How do you illustrate his naiveté?  How can McCain point out Obama's lack of experience, without appearing to insult him?  As VDH notes in his piece linked above;

"So is he an identity-politics candidate or a post racialist unifier? Or both? It all reminds me of the perennial complaints of the National Council of La Raza (the race) lecturing insensitive others about their unfair consideration of race in matters of illegal immigration. This is very disappointing, because lost in Obamania is the complete repudiation of his original promise precisely not to become a racial candidate.

Instead, in brilliant fashion, he has not only done so to secure his base, and out trump the identity politics of the possible first female nominee, but added a narcissistic and minatory twist that only by voting for someone who denies he is running on race do others have a chance to prove that they are beyond race. The country is soon to be in a position, thanks to the Obamas, that voting for a national hero, with three decades of governmental experience, and prior national campaign savvy over a half-term U.S. Senator is proof of being illiberal."

For the sake of my beloved America, I pray that McCain can pull it off.  He's not my guy, but Obama is a really scary guy for our country.