Veni, Vidi, Vetted

Admittedly, most voters aren't watching the intricate back-and-forth like we are. Even so, these first weeks of the "official" campaign are bound to draw the attention of even casual voters. Will what they've seen make it harder for either WH'08er to grab their attention this fall?

-- We all know voter pessimism about the country's direction is linked to frustration w/a system they think is broken. The Obama and McCain camps know this too. And yet both camps seem consumed w/"outing" any staff or "volunteer" working for their opponent who's burdened by even a whiff of "Washington-insider-dom."

-- To this generation of staffers, the threat of getting "Swift Boated" is more worrisome than over-committing to an attack.

-- As the camps debate which is purer than Caesar's wife, gas prices continue to rise and the market takes a serious dip. This is sure to leave a skeptical public more doubtful than ever that either WH '08er "gets it" or could be a serious agent of change.

--This of course, is more problematic for Obama. The more the campaign hews to the '04 script, the better for McCain.