On Thursday Barack Obama was in Hawaii with his grandmother, knowing he was seeing her for the last time in his life. Because he was running for President Obama had to leave her side as she was dying, get on a plane and go back to speaking to the American people about the Presidency and how important a choice they are making.
John McCain has this to say: "What America needs now is someone who will finish the race before starting the victory lap," McCain said to the crowd of several thousand at a rally here. "Someone who will fight to the end, not for himself but for his country."
A victory lap? Visiting your dying grandmother in the same apartment you grew up in is a victory lap? How tone deaf can McCain be?
The McCain campaign is simply projecting its own sense of resignation onto Obama. Obama acts like a dutiful grandson and it is a sign he thinks he can cake walk through the end of the campaign. Obama speaks to huge crowds and its a premature celebration. Obama builds a massive GOTV effort and warns supporters to be sure to vote and not be overconfident, and Obama is being overconfident. Obama's campaign begins transition planning to be sure they are ready from day one, and it's presumption. More than a dozen white conservatives and Republican elected officials endorse Obama and it's all about race.
But the reality is that somewhere in its collective unconsciousness McCain and his campaign knows it is losing and is angry, furious that they got beat by that whipper-snapper. The good looking kid playing ball in the street, the one everyone wants to hang out with, is a punk who doesn't know his place. How dare he laugh and play! Doesn't he know it's time for McCain's nap?
The truth is the Obama camp is still working its butt off to be sure they win on election day. In fact, they are working to drive a stake as far as they can into the heart of McCain and the Republicans as possible. There's no victory lap, just a doubled down passing attack to be sure the GOP can't come back in the fourth quarter.