Potholes in Obama's Path

This doesn't strike me as likely, but Andrew Sullivan is on red alert:

"A fascinating little moment on Fox News Sunday. Bill Kristol airs the idea that if Obama looks as if he will win the election, Bush or Israel may be more likely to attack Iran before next January. Bush could say: Obama made me do it! Kristol also raises the prospect of Saudi Arabia and Egypt going nuclear in response to an Obama presidency. I think we'll see many more of these dire warnings if Obama looks like the next president -- and he's increasingly the favorite. But why do I find the hysteria not so effective this time around? Maybe it's because the period in which we could have stopped Iran's nuclear ambition is now behind us.

"But could it happen? Could Bush bomb Iran before the next election and create a sense of international crisis that could cause voters to swing back to McCain? From everything we know and Bush and Cheney, the answer, surely, is yes. His failed policies have left only one option to prevent Iran's going nuclear: war . . . We could be facing the mother of all October surprises."

Or perhaps the strategy is simply to make Obama unlikable? According to Jake Tapper, Karl Rove, at a breakfast with Republican insiders, described Obama thusly: "Even if you never met him, you know this guy. He's the guy at the country club with the beautiful date, holding a martini and a cigarette that stands against the wall and makes snide comments about everyone who passes by."

Would this be the kind of country club that once would have excluded the likes of Obama?

And then there's war on the bookshelves, as Politico reports:

"Conservative journalist David Freddoso's 'The Case Against Barack Obama' will offer 'a comprehensive, factual look at Obama,' according to Regnery Publishing president and publisher Marjory Ross. But the book's subtitle makes clear its perspective: 'The Unlikely Rise and Unexamined Agenda of the Media's Favorite Candidate.'

"Ross contends that the mainstream media has offered insufficient scrutiny of Obama and likens the goal of Freddoso's book to that of 'Unfit for Command,' the scathing assessment of Kerry's war record that rocketed to No. 1 on The New York Times best-seller list."

Here's an interesting twist: Some Muslims feel slighted by Obama.

Oh, and this just in: Obama has ditched his new seal.

McCain adviser Charlie Black has kicked up a fuss with these blunt comments to Fortune:

"The assassination of Benazir Bhutto in December was an 'unfortunate event,' says Black. 'But his knowledge and ability to talk about it reemphasized that this is the guy who's ready to be Commander-in-Chief. And it helped us.' As would, Black concedes with startling candor after we raise the issue, another terrorist attack on U.S. soil. 'Certainly it would be a big advantage to him,' says Black."