One of the things that I’m most excited about in this upcoming battle between Obama and McCain is the marked differences in look, presentation, style and delivery.

McCain is old (I’m don’t mean that in an offensive way, he is literally old), his speaking style is mundane and dry, his humor doesn’t always come across to his audience and his presentation is just generally lacking. Now, this is my opinion, but I have had the opportunity to hear Sen. McCain on the stump in the lead-up to the New Hampshire primary, so I do have a good perspective.

Now, juxtapose McCain’s style with Obama. His oratory is one of his most notable characteristics. He thrives off a large audience and he delivers soaring speeches with ease. He’s young (I don’t mean that in an offensive way, he is literally young), and he looks the part of a leader.

This dynamic is going to play out over and over throughout this general election campaign - in the debates, town hall meetings, television ads, etc.

When Obama and McCain are on stage together, there will be a clear difference in the way these two candidates present their ideas, and it will be interesting to see how that dynamic plays out in the press, as well as with voters

Take last night for example. It had been reported that McCain spent three weeks preparing to make a speech on the eve of Obama’s nomination. His team chose New Orleans as a perfect place to layout his vision for this campaign and for America in the years to come. However, something happened on the way to the podium…This great video from our friends at Talking Points Memo says it all. Enjoy.

Okay, this is a bit odd. Rep. Tim Mahoney, who replaced Mark Foley in the 2006 election has an interesting prognosis if this convention really does come down to the convention in Denver.

U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney, whose district includes much of Martin and St. Lucie counties, is hoping he won’t have to attend the Democratic Party national convention in Denver in August.

If he does go, that will mean the Democrats still haven’t decided a nominee for the presidential election. And if neither Sen. Hillary Clinton nor Sen. Barack Obama has clinched the nomination by August, Mahoney says we may see a brokered convention, meaning the nominee could emerge from a negotiated settlement.

“If it (the nomination process) goes into the convention, don’t be surprised if someone different is at the top of the ticket,” Mahoney said.

A compromise candidate could be someone such as former vice president Al Gore, Mahoney said last week during a meeting with this news organization’s editorial board.

This is just wishful thinking. However, I do believe that ultimately Al Gore will have a role to play in this nomination fight. If the spats continue through the spring and both Clinton and Obama are weakening in head-to-head match-ups against Johnny McCain, I’d imagine Gore, Edwards and Carter will step in to help ease tensions and likely convince Clinton (unless there is a major sea change between now and then) that it’s time to step aside and allow for the general election campaign to begin.

Openers blog, the political blog for the Cleveland Plain Dealer is reporting that Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich will drop out of the race for the White House.

Here is video of the announcement.

For more coverage of Dennis Kucinich, go to the Openers blog.

While most politicians cite “spending more time with their family” as the reason why they give up their political aspirations, in Dennis’s case, spending more time with his wife probably is (and should be) the actual reason. Oh, how I miss the sites in New Hampshire.

Former United States Senator Fred Thompson is ready to run for the GOP nomination. Today, he launched his “I’m With Fred” website. Click on the Thompson picture to view the site.

From Gawker:

Back in 1993, when Rudy Giuliani was making his second run for mayor, his strategists felt a need to soften his image and show that he wasn’t just the guy who would lead a group of racist policemen in yelling “Bullshit!” in front of City Hall. They came up with this ad (entitled “Gentle”) which featured then-wife Donna Hanover praising her husaband’s family values. As it turned out, he had so much love for family that he went and got a whole other one. Still, in light of recent developments, fun to watch!

From the New York times:
Noticeably Absent From the Giuliani Campaign: His Children