You Thought This Was Hard…

ON A BUS IN The MIDDLE of INDIANA–And on the seventh day he rested.

On Friday, Sen. Barack Obama will leave with his family for a week-long family vacation in Hawaii, the state where he was born. The vacation–unlike those of some candidates past — will feature very little, possibly a lone fund-raiser and one press event. For the first time in almost two years, Obama will find himself without a gaggle of journalists following his every action, dissecting his every word.

He could use the break. That’s because, after traveling through Europe and the Middle East, through Indiana and Ohio and New York, Obama’s greatest, most taxing challenge awaits in the month before him. He might, as soon as he returns, announce a running-mate — thus kicking off a nationwide buddy-tour before the Democratic National Convention in Denver. The latter will provide its own set of challenges, as he seeks to use the biggest possible platform–Invesco Field in Denver–to announce his acceptance of his party’s nomination. Meanwhile, attacks by the McCain campaign and the Republican National Committee are likely to pound away at not only the man, but his story.

Yes, it’s  been a long run. As Obama’s said in town halls all this week, since he announced his run for the presidency in Springfield in February 2007, children have been born, learned to walk and say actual sentences. But with all polls still showing another close general election, Obama must summon up whatever reserve he has left to build on everything he’s worked for and any goodwill he’s created — and finally close the deal on his opponent, Sen John McCain. I’ve said often that I don’t have a dog in this fight, but should the candidate tire, he might be best served by these words of Winston Churchill: "We have not journeyed all this way… because we are made of sugar candy."