I've long worried that Obama over-learned Iowa, where he was somewhat aided by John Edwards' willingness to attack on his behalf. But as the primary stretched on, Obama seemed pretty comfortable lacing up his own gloves. Either way, the campaign, for now, seems to be pursuing a pretty similar strategy to what they used in the early primaries: Hold back, focus on fundamentals, let your opponent sully their own image by attacking you, and ready yourself to engage on your own terms when it suits your strategy. That McCain has gone so negative, so early, is a sign of his campaign's glaring weaknesses. That doesn't mean it won't work. But if it does show up in the polls, it's pretty likely that the Obama campaign will respond. And they're going to have quite a bit of money with which to do it.

It's worth noting that it's only August. I'll be interested in how this all goes down post-convention.