While last-gasp Bill is out shamelessly pimping that Hillary is winning the general election, never mind that she has not won the primaries, I am seeing a different side of Obama: more assertive, crisper, issue focused, taking it to McBush. His line that McCain represents a continuation of eight years of the failed policies of the Bush administration is a strong one, clear, and easy to understand. This is the opposite of how he played Clinton, often on the defensive, slow to respond, all talk about change, little focus on substance. I like this new side of him.

Meanwhile McBush has suggested that he and Obama go to Iraq together in order to “educate” Obama. I’m sure it is a ploy that Obama will reject, but I would take him up on the offer, provided that McCain schedule 50 percent of the time and Obama schedule the other 50 percent. McCain’s would all be scripted by the Pentagon, while Obama’s would not be. Obama’s should include: 1) talking to troops on their third and fourth tours of duty as they worry about the economy back home; 2) a visit to some rebuilding projects that are failing, falling apart before they are finished showing the waste of the reconstruction effort American taxpayers are paying for; 3) a salute to a flag-draped coffin getting ready to be shipped home; and 4) a meeting with the former oil minister, Ibrahim Bahr Uloom, and the current oil minister, the one and only Ahmed Chalabi, that would show the shabbles of oil production and distribution in Iraq. The last point would show the parallel problems of oil consumption in the US and Iraq and show Obama as unafraid to confront Chalabi, the snake.

McCain would have his moments, but Obama would steal the show. A joint communique would benefit Obama more, reserving the right for both of them to criticize each other after the trip. Keep in mind that both candidates are now in favor of a timeline for withdrawal, but Obama would gain from being seen as McCain’s “equal” with regard to an issue that McCain feels is his.