Obama's Cool Will Win the White House

Barack Obama has kept his cool while his rival hurls frantic Hail Mary passes—and that will be what wins him this election, Charles Krauthammer writes in the Washington Post. John McCain tempted fate one time too many with his campaign-suspension stunt, Krauthammer argues, leaving his rival—who did not distinguish himself in the crisis—looking calm and steady.

Obama realizes that to win this election he must simply pass the “Reagan threshold” of 1980: “Make yourself acceptable.” Reagan did so by proving he wasn’t a menace; Obama is winning votes with his continued calm and his slow drift towards the ordinary that began in Denver. "If Obama convinces the electorate that he is not too exotic or green or unprepared,” Krauthammer writes, “he wins.” (More Election 2008 stories.)