This is the game you play

In a presidential campaign, nothing is sacred. Wannabee first ladies, first children and first cats would be well advised to realize this and start rolling with the punches, because they will come.

They already have.

Chelsea Clinton cried foul when people asked on the campaign trail her about her father's infidelities affecting Hillary - a justified question posed in a reasonable arena. Chelsea, for the most part, got away with rebuffing the questioner, but using that question as a method of attack would have returned if Hillary had gained the nomination.

Barack Obama said his wife was off limits to political attacks, but I don't think those who seek his failure in November are going to heed his words. Likewise, Cindy McCain recently decried the 2000 smear campaign against her adopted daughter, which made some voters think the girl was McCain's illegitimate daughter.

All these people know Washington, and more importantly they know what power does to people. If attacking Michelle Obama on a particular issue means the other guy has a better chance of winning, it will happen.

And if Socks the cat has to die in the process, so be it.

Downtime

Things have seemingly cooled down a little on the campaign trails for Obama and McCain - even enough for them to spend time at their paying jobs in the Senate.

Hey, these guys deserve some rest, or at least Obama does. He just finished battling Clinton in a months-long cage match. Now he's back at the Capitol, chastising Joe Lieberman for talking smack about him while getting a little too friendly with McCain.

Lieberman won't be making the short list for veep any time soon.

These doldrums on the road to November are a let down for me. We've just spent all this time building up to a nominee and now that's it over, what are we looking forward to? Who's going to get picked as a running mate? I'm ready for an October surprise now.

And if McCain's daughter is part of it, more the better.

It begins

The stubbornness of Hillary Clinton's refusal to admit defeat in spite of astronomical odds was well documented in the press. However, her months-long arguments of why she was the better candidate for the nomination disappeared in the space of a day later last week when it was clear that the Democratic bigwigs weren't going to have any protracted battles over who got to fight McCain in November.

Hey, easy come front-runner status. Easy go.

So away with Clinton the candidate and enter Clinton the Obama supporter in a much publicized Saturday announcement. This means many things, but one of the most important is that two of my bets are now valid: that Obama will not be assassinated by election day and that Obama will be elected the next president.

Another bet with a former boss required that Hillary be the nominee. That's now null and void.

There's been plenty of ranting about Clinton over the Internet for years now, but I'm a little sad to see her off the main stage. Nothing like a personality such as Clinton's to keep the crazies and the supporters screaming their responses to every piddly little post about her and her opponent.

We can only hope she gets the veep slot to keep the drama going.

Obamarama

You kind of knew this was going to happen. Barack Obama got the magic number of delegates Tuesday, immediately claimed the Democratic mantle and started on the general election road. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton finally admitted she's not going to be the next president and will endorse Obama.

Which, of course, means some of her supporters will vote for McCain in November.

Why? Because they're immature, spoil sport, sore loser crybabies who would prefer to cut off their noses and then stand in front of a mirror while loudly declaring that they're pretty - and that Hillary shouldn't drop out of the race.

Their brand of politics is low-brow stupidity. For Democrats and Republicans, in any election, it should never be about getting your chosen candidate into office once the primaries are over. You rally behind the winner and support them at the polls come election day.

Putting the other guy into office just because you're tetchy about Hill's losing the nomination stinks of a fifth-grade class treasurer's campaign. Hey, let me call the Wambulance for you.

Wash, rinse, repeat

Well, here's a tired, old story that we already knew the ending to playing itself out. The Dem's rules committee reaches a compromise Saturday about the delegates that doesn't affect Obama's chances at getting the nomination. Hillary wins a majority of Puerto Rico's 55 delegates on Sunday. And the elephant in the room that everyone is pointing at gets a little more smug.

Why? Because we've known Hill's shot at the nod have long been dead regardless of how many primaries she now wins, yet her people are still making noises about challenging Saturday's decision at the convention. Everyone, Obama included, is walking on eggshells around Clinton, saying dropping out of the race is completely up to her and no one is going to twist her arm.

Meanwhile, Obama is already tossing attacks at McCain and vice versa. This game of empty words has become a lot more empty since conventional wisdom finally got the courage to say out loud that Clinton's chances are done.

I only hope the substance of this debate becomes more relevant once we've got just two people going head to head.