Political musings worth reading in today's online postings:

Matthew Rothschild's "Why Obama Is Slipping" in the Progressive. First, says Rothschild, McCain has been effective in portraying Obama as an elitist. Second, "he let McCain appear the champion of the average American on the issue of offshore drilling. Rather than stick to a principled position and explain why it won't help the consumer even as it destroys the environment, Obama vacillated. That won't work. He should have stressed the need to get off oil, not acquiesced in the futile quest to drill more. Instead, he looked wishy-washy."

"And whoever had the brilliant idea of sending Obama off on a Hawaiian vacation ought to find a new line of work," says Rothschild. "While Russia attacked Georgia, Obama was on a surfboard, no less."

"Obama hasn't fought back fast enough or hard enough," says Rothschild. "He doesn't seem to relish the parry and the thrust, and if he can't throw a knife, he needs to find someone who can toss one - and twist one."

The Washington Post's EJ Dionne has more advice: "empathy, the gift that Bill Clinton kept on giving, is now an Obama imperative."

In the Times, David Brooks roots for Joe Biden as Obama's vice-president pick. Brooks cites Biden's working-class roots, honesty, loyalty, and experience. Tim Kaine is too inexperienced and too young, writes Brooks. "Evan Bayh has impeccably centrist credentials," he says, "but the country is not in the mood for dispassionate caution."

And in the Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan urges John McCain to pledge to serve for only one term. Her reason: "it would allow America to punt. It would make the 2008 choice seem less fateful. People don't mind the chance to defer a choice when they're not at all sure about the product. It would give bitter Democrats a chance to regroup, and it would give those who like Obama but consider him a little half-baked to vote against him guiltlessly while he becomes fully baked."

And, writes Noonan, "it would allow Mr. McCain to say he means to face the tough problems ahead with a uniquely bipartisan attitude and without having to care a fig for re-election."