My fellow Americans:

My fellow Americans:

I spent a few minutes with Barack Obama on my last campaign outing, and one thing struck me during our brief chat.

There's a civil war erupting on the right, and Colin Powell is caught in the crossfire.

The network maps are bathed in blue, the pundits contemplating a landslide, the conservative columnists preparing for the indignities of an Obama administration.

The network maps are bathed in blue, the pundits contemplating a landslide, the conservative columnists preparing for the indignities of an Obama administration.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The reporters waded gingerly into two-inch-deep mud and settled behind scratched wooden tables as Barack Obama was being introduced to more than 10,000 screaming fans at the state fairgrounds here.

Surely I've got better things to do than to flush this column down the drain by yammering on about Joe the Plumber.

John McCain may have won over Joe the Plumber, but I doubt his "class warfare" swipe at Barack Obama turned the tide last night.

Remember a few short weeks ago, when the race was tight and the pundits were goading Barack Obama to get aggressive and sharpen his message or see the thing slip away?