Wait. What About Mac?

I don't blame you if you're sick of the Obama, Hillary drumbeat. It has been riveting political theater but let's thank John McCain for a few noteworthy items that can give us a brief breather before the West Virginia primary in two days.

First of all, Mac tried out a fall campaign attack by trying to tie Obama with Hamas. In a sign that Obama is learning to throw some elbows (thanks, Hillary), he blasted Mac by saying that the experienced one was "losing his bearings". To which Mac's peeps cried "Ageism, ageism"! I'm not sure any of it resonated, which should worry McCainiacs. If this is what passes for definition campaigning (trying to define your opponent before he can define himself, or you, for that matter), it's pretty amateurish.

But what should really scare McCainiacs is the recent kerfluffle and resignation of two key campaign aides, Doug Davenport and Doug Goodyear, who worked for DCI. DCI is a typical Washington lobbying firm that works for the highest bidder, no matter the politics or ideology. Ok, that's what lobbyists do. It's a free country; no one begrudges their right to make a buck. Except maybe when you work for a not-so-free-country, like Mynamar. Yeah, the old Burma, whose Junta-led government is still not letting the international community help its people in the wake of the devasting cyclone, hired DCI in 2002 to help it with its image!

So this is the maverick who rails against doing business with lobbyists? This is the guy who gets holier than thou about terrorist groups saying nice things about another candidate? And more importantly, this is the guy who lets his campaign hire people with these ties without vetting them first? Everyone has been saying that when the spotlight shifts to Mac in the general, there will be enough missteps and mispeaks to give his campaign trouble. If this is a preview, look out.

Ok, that was enough of a breather from Hil and Barry.

I have to say I'm just a little confused. All I've been hearing is that Obama has locked up the nomination. I know that he's been acting very Presidential nominee-like. And I know that Hillary's desperation to prove that her voting coalition was superior to Obama's led to her politically sloppy statement: "...Senator Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again..." . (Jeez, talk about beating a drum until it beats you back.)

But, let's be honest, in West Virginia's primary on Tuesday, Hillary is about to have her biggest victory since Arkansas. We're talking at least 30 points. (That's a lot of hard-working white Americans). And then the following week, she'll win Kentucky by 20 points and probably lose Oregon by 5 points to 10 points. But no one is saying Obama can't close the deal now. They're saying that the deal is closed. So when did that happen? With a big victory in NC and a little loss in Indiana? It was that easy? So why were all the Obama folks wringing their hands?

Is it because maybe Hillary had a shot? If so, why doesn't she have a shot now? As I say, I'm confused. Now, I know the math favors Obama. If the rules are followed, Obama has this delegate deal wrapped up. But since when did the Clinton's ever follow the rules? They made up the rules. Are we really entering an era where the Dems can say "no" to the Clintons? If so,then that's change right there.

Finally, the reason the math favors Obama is because of a low key lawyer who was in charge of Obama's delegate strategy. Read this profile to learn more about Jeffery Berman. If you're a political junkie, you'll love it.

The question today is: will McCain run a high-road campaign, or is it going to be bare-knuckled politics in the general? Talk about this or anything else by clicking 'comments' below, bypassing the Google sign up and hitting the anonymous or nickname buttons.