Andanh.com

Why isn't Barack Obama doing better? Why, after all that has happened, does he have only a slim 2- or 3-percentage point lead over John McCain, according to an average of recent polls? Why is he basically tied with his opponent when his party is so far ahead?

His age probably has something to do with it. So does his race. But the polls and focus groups suggest that people aren't dismissive of Obama or hostile to him. Instead, they're wary and uncertain.

And the root of it is probably this: Obama has been a sojourner.

There is a sense that because of his unique background and temperament, Obama lives apart. He put one foot in the institutions he rose through on his journey, but never fully engaged. As a result, voters have trouble placing him in his context, understanding the roots and values in which he is ineluctably embedded.

Last week Jodi Kantor of the New York Times described Obama's 12 years at the University of Chicago Law School. "The young law professor stood apart in too many ways to count," Kantor wrote.

Last week's energy debate in Congress gives voters concerned about gas prices a good idea where U.S. energy policy is headed.

If Barack Obama is in the White House, Democrats win a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has fewer pesky Republicans to ignore in the House, this will be energy rule No. 1:

Forget more drilling. Offshore. Alaska. Doesn't matter.

Then comes what an unidentified Democratic aide let slip in the Hill newspaper: "Right now, our strategy on gas prices is, 'drive small cars and wait for the wind.' "

In other words, suck it up, gas-guzzlers. Break out the Carter-era sweaters and hair shirts, turn down the thermostats this winter, and let the drill bits rust. Policies of the 1970s are good enough for the 21st century.