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Not much basking, plenty of battle from Obama

• Published August 29, 2008

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My two cents (which together with all the other cents chipped in today should make enough to fund a campaign for governor): Obama turned a moment to reflect into the proverbial throwing down of the glove with McCain.

(McCain selected Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his V.P. today. Take that, change mongers!)

The media coverage this week, all the way from The Olympia to CNN, was trying to put Sen. Barack Obama in his proper historical context as the first black man to win a major party nomination. But rather than highlight that moment and pat his Democrats on the back, Obama spent most of his time on offense.

Given their tendency to shun the Washington D.C. mode of thinking, I often wonder if Obama’s crew will succumb to the groupthink that plagued President Bush’s administration, shutting out all dissenting opinion. So far, however, they seem to tactically astute. At least they passed up the chance to gaze at their collective belly button last night, keeping their eyes on the prize.

What does Sen. John McCain do with his moment next week? Seems like he’s already found his groove, and can use national attention to cement his picture of Obama and the Democrats as a celebrity and his groupies. Palin helps mute the historic button, guaranteeing a first (woman vice president or black president) in November. But people vote for a president, not a vice president, as the political wisdom goes.

What McCain could really use in St. Paul is a Reagan-style reality check on Obama, as in "There you go again."

But nobody from either campaign called up and asked me about it, for the record.