Obama pounces as McCain stumbles on number of his homes. Now that's a headline that the Obama camp should have been getting all along. One gets the feeling they were being timid, trying to play prevent defense when they didn't have much of a lead to protect.

Now it's time for repetition. The GOP makes these kinds of issues last for days, weeks, months by repeating them over and over. Too many Democrats seem to think this is beneath them. But repetition is what solidifies messages like this. If the Dems have learned anything, they will be making jokes about this gaffe every single day until the votes are cast.

Of course, McCain will try to seize back the momentum by putting out some smear ads about Tony Rezko, etc. Now we'll see if Obama fights back or rolls over like all the other Dems.

Rant of the morning:

ROMNEY: "Well, Hugh, my own view is as the Caucuses are a hot spot, and as Russians have shown their willingness to act militarily against a sovereign nation, that the International Olympic Committee ought to revisit locating the Games elsewhere."

Just stop talking. Go away. Shut your malevolent gob. I'm sorry, but it'd be something akin to a sin to be even remotely polite about it anymore. Listening to people like Mitt Romney and Hugh "I have absolutely no memory of the last week, much less the last five years" Hewitt... listening to Grandpa McBombsalot declaring that in this century, "nations don't invade other nations"... our U.N. Ambassador Zalmay NotBoltonThankGod saying "the days of overthrowing leaders by military means (in Europe!), those days our gone"... Russia "expert" Condi Rice furrowing her brow and declaring military intervention is "not the way to deal in the 21st century"...

Just. Shut. Up. Do you think, do you honestly think that there is anyone on the planet that has less credibility on this issue than you? Seriously?

And then we've got Joe Lieberman warning against people who exhibit "moral neutrality." No, "moral neutrality" is what you get when you assert that any action on the part of the United States is moral by definition, regardless of how transparently malevolent the same act is when taken by someone else. It's not even moral neutrality, it's complete abdication of any premise of morality or desire for morality. It is pissing on the very concept of morality, and doing so gleefully, and for no reason more substantial than mere convenience.

Yes: one of the problems with tenuously premised "preemptive war" is that it is an vacuous notion usable by any nation to justify any action -- it legitimizes even egregiously premised, first-strike military action by blandly painting it as moral necessity. That was, you know, one of the major arguments against it, not that anyone actually listened to two damn words worth of those arguments. The United States has squandered, nearly entirely, its moral authority in matters of war and peace, and for that we will be paying a price for decades. Yes, the Georgian-Russian conflict is abominable, but people like McCain, Rice, et. al. are so thunderingly flawed, as the voice of those sentiments, that they make a mockery of the moral authority of the United States merely in expressing them.

So, to put it succinctly... piss off. The greatest moral failing of the United States in the last forty years has been to continue to give credence to the architects of "preemptive" invasion. Active promoters of those wars should at the very least be condemned to lives of solitude, in which not a damn word they say is ever reported on again.

So who is the out-of-touch elitist in this race:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in an interview Wednesday that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own."I think — I'll have my staff get to you," McCain told Politico in Las Cruces, N.M. "It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you."

Come on, Obama campaign. Where's the attack ads against this guy? These commercial write themselves.

UPDATE: I take back that last line. The Obama campaign broke speed records getting this ad out:

Keith Olbermann gives McCain a shot, and then some:

John McCain claims Russia's actions in Georgia "the most serious crisis since the end of the Cold War." What the hell is Iraq then? Afghanistan? The first Persian Gulf War? McCain really loves this stuff. Can't wait until he can push the button himself.

McCain thinks he's already president:

Standing behind a lectern in Michigan this week, with two trusted senators ready to do his bidding, John McCain seemed to forget for a moment that he was only running for president.

Asked about his tough rhetoric on the ongoing conflict in Georgia, McCain began: "If I may be so bold, there was another president . . .

"He caught himself and started again: "At one time, there was a president named Ronald Reagan who spoke very strongly about America's advocacy for democracy and freedom."

McCain forgets he isn't president, but it's OK to rag on Obama for bring presumptuous?

Like I said in last week's column, the amateurs are making great ads, and maybe the campaigns could save money by just having their supports make them ads.

Who do the soldiers serving on the front lines want as their next commander in chief? If the amount of money they are donating to the candidates is any measure, they like Barack Obama six times more than John McCain. Yes, troops serving abroad have given Obama six times more money than they have given McCain. Not only are they putting their lives on the line for this country, but they are speaking with their wallets. Not only did Obama collect six times more money, but he also has five times more donors than McCain.

And the decorated war hero also has a problem with veterans. He may brag about his "perfect" ratings from veterans groups, but they actually think he's done a lousy job.

In the past, when Joe Biden's name was thrown out as a possible Obama VP pick, I just laughed. Biden has a reputation for speaking his mind in ways that might be seen to cause trouble. Secretary of State maybe, but not VP.

But the more I look at this, the better Biden looks. Obama needs two things in his VP. First, he needs someone who knows how to work with Congress and get things passed, and Biden's long Senate career is a big plus there.

Obama also needs a Dick Cheney-style attack dog to fight back against smears by the McCain camp. And Biden would fit that role very well, allowing Obama to stay above the fray.

I still think Obama isn't likely to pick notable frontrunners Evan Bayh or Tim Kaine. He isn't going to let the Republicans take over a senate seat or governor's mansion that easily. I think Biden and Tom Daschle now look like the top picks. We'll just have to wait and see what he does.