George Will is right that most of Barack Obama’s economic and energy policies are hooey: “This year’s campaign, soggy with environmental messianism, deranged self-importance and delusional economics, the question is: Where is the derisive laughter?” And because Obama is hesitant to get into the details of what he means and how it’s all going to work, John McCain should do it. It is pretty funny stuff and good fodder for ads.

At least in one post-Joe Biden poll Obama’s seven-point lead from the previous month is gone. Not Biden’s fault, but let’s be honest: he isn’t going to change many voters’ minds.

The main promoter of MSM conventional wisdom says that in the long run, the “housing” face-off helps McCain. Once Obama starts acting like a typical Democrat rather than the Messiah of New Politics, he’s at a disadvantage.

The Wall Street Journal observes: “The biggest false note in Saturday’s joint Obama-Biden appearance was when Mr. Obama said that Mr. Biden will help him “turn the page on the ugly partisanship of Washington.” Tell that to Robert Bork, Clarence Thomas or Ursula Meese, wife of Reagan-era Attorney General Ed Meese, whom Mr. Biden drove to tears with one of his ugly Judiciary Committee tirades. Mr. Biden has been in the middle of some of the Beltway’s most ferocious partisan warfare.”

Reading the tea leaves–actually the seating chart–the McCain team suspects that Barack Obama is writing off a few faux battleground states.

Mitt Romney never managed to charm the local press and one hometown piece suggests he’s not the right number two for McCain.

So far, not everyone is getting along at the DNC. Not by a long shot.

Given Joe Biden’s ties to lobbyists, you can only hope we’ve seen the last of the nonsense games about counting lobbyists, former lobbyists and lobbyists’ donations. You see, once it’s a Democrat with lobbyist connections it is a non-story.

The only one who would have been more fun than Joe Biden? Ed Rendell. And he really is from Pennsylvania. And as one of Hillary Clinton’s most stalwart allies, he might have calmed some Hillary fans. (They still aren’t coming around to The One.)

Joe Biden isn’t Hillary–but he shares her worst habit (well, one of them)–the Walter Mitty-like penchant for wild exaggeration. It is as if the Obama team took all the worst qualties from the Clintons (e.g. exaggeration, secrecy, flip-floppery) and claimed them as their own.

When Tom Brokaw says that Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews aren’t the “only voices” at MSNBC, it belies the obvious reality: MSNBC has made them the face and voice of its “news.”

Mark Halperin realizes that “the kind of voters who showed up for Obama in most primary and caucus states are more liberal and partisan than the centrist and independent citizens who will decide this election in the battleground states.” (The former are the ones peeved they didn’t get a timely text message and the latter don’t think he’s up to be commander-in-chief.) When you picture the voters who matter –a craggy Michigander or a mother of four from Hampton Roads, Virginia–Obama’s chances don’t seem so great anymore.

The Fox panel (including Mara Liasson and Juan Williams) is in basic agreement: Obama blew it by not choosing Hillary Clinton and Obama still has to prove he’s up for the job.

There is a lot to this. The McCain team learned to survive by defying low expectations, using cheap web ads and free press and featuring a highly interactive candidate. Everything they learned then is coming in handy now.

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