Well, this has been another interesting week.

Unfortunately, the big news was the sudden hospitalization of Ted Kennedy (my senator for seven years in the 70's) with a seizure caused by a brain tumor. I'm not eulogizing the guy... he'll do what he needs to medically, but he's still very much around, and there's still more tests pending to determine the exact nature of the (aggressive) tumor he has. Serious news, however it turns out, and our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family. And you can bet Ted Kennedy will be noting the health care he gets compared to everyone else, and (to the best he can) doing something about it.

On the Democratic side, another series of primaries brings us ever closer to resolution of the epic battle between two extraordinary and talented candidates. Obama will be the party nominee; that's not in doubt (and hasn't been since February). Clinton's political journey continues as well, as her staff, donors and chances melt away. Whether or not you think she was beaten by a superior candidate, there's little doubt she was beaten by a superior campaign.

Most Clinton supporters will vote for the Dem nominee.  They still need to be treated with respect, as does she, and I hope that steps in that direction are taken by everyone here (my retired teacher mom is big Clinton supporter, but I have to say she did love this picture of 101 year old Myrtle Strong Enemy of the Crow Nation). At the same time, I do note that the occasional dire warnings that I see in the comments or on the internets or in my email comparing Obama to Mondale or McGovern (we're doomed!) come across as rather silly. McGovern supporters (I was one, back in the day) seemed convinced he'd win despite the data that said otherwise. Those who say Obama will be another McGovern, and say they're convinced he'd lose just as badly, say so despite the data that says otherwise.

But the real interest continues to be on the Republican side. Sensing that McCain was in trouble, Bush clumsily tried to insert himself in the race last week with a speech from Israel accusing Obama (by implication) and Democrats of appeasement, then was forced to back off by the fierce reaction, going so far as to blame the media. This week, Round I was awarded to Obama. It didn't help that President George (27%) Bush simply bound McCain closer to him with that move.

Okay, so that didn't work out so well for Bush-McCain. Well, neither did the issue of McCain's lobbyists. From Charlie Black to the five lobbyists that were fired, to the ones that weren't (and are still there), McCain was doing damage control. About the best they could do was "well, real voters don't care about this stuff", which is along the lines of "voters don't know Shi'a from Sunni (and neither do I)" and "voters don't know who runs Iran (and neither do I)". In November McCain will find out the answer to all of those points is "Ah, but many of them do." And it's going to come as a shock to his campaign, who are as clueless as their candidate about this.

Obama jumped on the lobbyist issue yesterday. "During a speech at a high school here, Obama said voters should be concerned that ‘after nearly three decades in Washington, John McCain can't see or won't acknowledge what's obvious to all of us here today -- that lobbyists aren't just part of the system in Washington, they're part of the problem.’"

The reason the McCain effort is in trouble is these guys haven't grasped where the ground has changed. Foreign policy scare tactics don't work for Republicans. "He's a liberal" scare tactics don't work, either. Whether it's the economy, health care or the war, folks just hate where the country is right now. And as his lobbyist problem illustrates, John McCain is no more a change candidate than George Bush is a great President. Oh, sure, you can find right wing idiots who say otherwise (this from Investor's Business Daily):

The Presidency: It takes little courage — or brains — to join the mob vilifying President Bush. But the Democrats (and Republicans, too) depicting him as villain will one day regret it.

but the days that the whack jobs set the agenda is coming to an end. That's the whole point of change. If we wanted more Republican governance, we'd vote for McCain. But as the special elections, issues polling, direction of the country and the party ID numbers show, the American people don't want more Republican governance, and they don't want more of the Bush policies McCain supports. By November, it will be so clear that even the McCain campaign will be able to figure it out.