If you found yourself near a TV on Wednesday morning, you might have seen Michelle Obama hosting "The View," complete with fist bumps all around. Part of the campaign's attempt to recast her image, it was by most accounts a success, and a sure sign that the presidential campaign--the real deal--is finally underway.

The candidates want to save you pain at the pump
If the recent wall-to-wall media coverage is any indicator, soaring gas prices may be the most important issue in the 2008 campaign. Whether or not Barack Obama and John McCain can really do anything them is seriously debatable, but that doesn't mean they won't at least try to look like they can.
 
This week McCain called for the federal government to lift its ban on offshore oil drilling, a ban he used to support. He also wants to add more oil refineries and nuclear power plants, and said in a speech that "conservation serves a critical national goal"--a statement that is unusual only because it came from the mouth of the Republican presidential candidate. He also supports a federal gas-tax holiday.

Obama, in contrast, opposes offshore drilling and instead wants to hit the oil companies with a windfall profits tax, which McCain opposes. Obama also supports government subsidies for alternative fuels such as ethanol. 

Hold the public financing, please
While we're all paying through the nose to fill our cars, the other big political news this week centered on something we won't be paying for. Obama announced that he will not be accepting federal funds--taxpayer dollars--to run his campaign, the first time a major party candidate has ever done that in the general election.
 
Under a system that's been around since 1976, a candidate can accept federal money--this year $84.1 million--as long as he refuses private donations and agrees to not spend any more than what the government gives him. It's designed to keep special interest money out of campaigns. Obama calls the system "broken" and says he would be at a disadvantage because the Republican National Committee, a fundraising machine, can spend as much as it wants for McCain.
 
The thing is, Obama is also a fundraising rock star. Through the end of April, he had raised $266 million for the general election, compared with $93 million for McCain. So Obama doesn't need the federal money, and now he can spend as much as he wants. Problem is, last year he suggested he would take public financing, so the McCain campaign hammered him, saying he had "broken his word."
 
The big picture
It's only June. We've still got five months to go, and this campaign is already getting interesting. We can only hope the candidates continue to stay on the issues and have a real debate about their policy differences. That would be refreshing. Keep your fingers crossed!