My Friends, please do not ignore me!

John McCain closed the deal last night. He reached the magic number of delegates, and collected a congratulation and a pledge of support from Mike Huckabee. But it was a bit tough, having to win the Republican nomination with most eyes focused on the Clinton/Obama battle.

There is one plus to the situation. Financially, he gets to hold onto his cash while the Dems slug it out and spend theirs on each other. He can also direct his verbal firepower at both the Dems, while they are forced to fire at each other. Yes, Obama was trying to ignore Clinton and fire only at McCain, but it seems that he will not be able to stick with that.

But in a larger sense, McCain's situation is a challenge. When you are running for President, you want the spotlight to be on you all the time (except of course for your stumbles). Then too, there is the issue of following Bush. The subprime mess is echoing through the consumer sector, and no it is not valid to blame that on Bill Clinton or keep singing the praises of tax cuts. McCain's willingness to support the Iraq occupation helped win him the nomination, partly because it illuminated his maverick, pro-military persona. But in the greater, non-Republican electorate, it is a tough sell to propose an open ended presence in Iraq without the resources to do so, both financial and military. There have been critics of the practice of funding a war with tax cuts- and yes, McCain was once among those critics.

So McCain is stuck for now in the role of counterpuncher against the Democrat Duo, possibly all the way to the Democratic Convention. He will need to round up the right wing Republicans- he is off to a pretty good start there. But he will also need to pick up a healthy slice of the Independents while differentiating himself from Bush but without angering Bush's remaining fans. That is not easy. The only thing that has simplified the election situation is the word from Michael Bloomberg that he is not running. So it will boil down to the two major parties this time, with a handful of votes going to Ralph Nader. Has Ron Paul given up yet?

So, how does John start out with this tightrope walk? He is apparently having a private lunch today with George W. Bush, on the way to collecting the president's political endorsement. Wow! Well, here is one suggestion anyway. Please try making a few public addresses without using the phrase "my friends". Please!