Britney, On the Phone, at 3 a.m.! Get It?

I'm no pundit. I really barely know what I'm talking about. But here's the way I see it: the coverage of Obama's world tour was very powerful and full of dazzling imagery to go with his inevitable rhetorical panache. During the same week, McCain was made fun of on The Daily Show for his stops at grocery stores and schnitzel houses. This week, the "buzz" from McCain's people is that Obama is acting like he's already President (which is bad, how?) and they've got a new TV ad where they refer to Obama as the biggest celebrity in the world. I know, they're trying to lump him in a ridiculous way with Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. But who's more ridiculous in this case?

All I want to say about this is what I've repeated to my husband again and again (it's okay; he tunes me out, so he probably only heard it twice): the effectiveness and strength of a campaign apparatus is not only a means, but an end in itself -- if a person falters when running a national campaign operation, how can he expect to succeed in running the country? Just ask Hillary. You can call her at 3 a.m. -- she won't be busy, I'm told.