Could he go again? No matter how hard the media mavens try, they never seem to get it right.

Larry J. Sabato identifies a key drawback for Tim Kaine: he’s not very good at his job. (“I would characterize Kaine’s term to this point as belonging to the bottom quartile. . .even Democratic legislators friendly to Kaine say privately that he is often a distant governor, certainly compared to Warner, inclined to give orders without thorough follow-up and flexibility.”) But since Obama isn’t big on getting things done I don’t see that this would handicap Kaine’s chances. Still, is it the reverse of the Clinton-Gore theme (young gun reformers who get things done) –sort of Nice Guys Who Don’t Perform?

I adore the idea of “foolishness meters” — but what would be the highest reading?

Soldier Snubgate finally reaches page one of the Washington Post, but in the guise of a story claiming the McCain camp lacks evidence to say the reason Obama backed out was because he couldn’t bring cameras. But that in itself is a bit misleading — what the McCain camp has done is put out some eleven excuses offered by the Obama team and argue nothing justifies reneging on a promised visit. ( Yeah, the Post does mention that, two-thirds of the way through the piece.) The Post settles on the explanation that Obama campaign advisor General Gration wasn’t allowed in so Obama backed out. Not exactly taking charge is it? That and the “Who’s On First?” excuse routine is going to do him in as a great manager of men if he’s not careful.

But when the New York Times doesn’t buy Obama’s excuses you know he’s not fooling anyone.

Thank goodness for the foreign media that tells us: “Iraqi forces backed by American troops have launched a major operation against insurgents in the north-eastern Iraqi province of Diyala. This is one of the last strongholds of al-Qaeda militants in the country.” You mean we’ve defeated , killed or chased away all the rest — like a real victory? Who knew?

Maybe people don’t like hype? They don’t very much like something Barack Obama has been saying or doing.

BarackBook, faux briefing books, “Obama in Berlin” and “media love” ads — some McCain team members are having fun. At least we know which campaign has a sense of humor.

Arrogance has its downside. People begin to notice you are talking down to them and that it’s all about you instead of them.