You Try to Take a Break …

So I took my son Jack to visit his grandparents and cousins in Chicago, and all of a sudden, all hell breaks loose.

First, the not-so-shocking revelations that John Edwards was having an affair with somebody who worked on his campaign.

And then, Russia invades Georgia, as George Bush and Vladimir Putin watch the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in Beijing.

Not a great time to be on vacation, especially if you are in the media or running for president.

The Edwards revelations are troubling for Barack Obama. Clinton campaign loyalists are already saying that if they knew about this affair back last November, Hillary Clinton would have won in Iowa. Hillary just has bad luck when it comes to finding out about affairs.

But the invasion of Georgia by Russia is really bad news for the Obama campaign.

The stature gap is already pretty wide between Obama and Sen. John McCain. Obama is the least experienced presidential candidate in the last 100 years, while McCain may be the most experienced.

But the pictures coming from the campaigns have helped to accentuate that stature gap. Obama playing golf in Hawaii is not exactly the kind of presidential image you want, unless you are Gerald Ford.

McCain looked very presidential, and he took a very firm approach with Russia. That McCain has actually been to Georgia and knows the situation very well only shows how his experience will be a real asset during this campaign.

President Bush didn’t come off that great during the opening moments of this crisis. He looked too cozy with Putin in Beijing.

Obama also didn’t look great. He looked a little bit like Bush, not taking the situation seriously enough.

But this is very serious situation, more serious than Iraq in my view. It involves our national credibility and the value of our alliances, and a possible wider conflict with Putin’s Russia.

It seems like every August brings a new crisis. In 1990, it was the first Iraq war. In 1998, it was the impeachment of President Clinton.

Let us hope that this is not a replay of Barbara Tuchman’s Guns of August.

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