At this point, it’s pretty apparent to all that Obama’s campaign, led by “the Ax,” has outflanked the McCain campaign at every turn. It’s telling that Karl Rove refuses to acknowledge “the Bullet” as a protege…I wouldn’t either given his pathetic showing.

This is no evaluation of policy or character, simply an assessment of campaign competence.

But now it’s really getting ugly. Obama is toying with McCain, much like a cat might play with its future dinner. Here’s what Obama said in a recent interview with Charlie Gibson:

“I am surprised that, you know, we’ve been seeing some pretty over-the-top attacks coming out of the McCain campaign over the last several days, that he wasn’t willing to say it to my face. But I guess we’ve got one last debate. So presumably, if he ends up feeling that he needs to, he will raise it during the debate.”

Obama is literally baiting McCain into launching an angry and self-destructive attack. He practically calls McCain a coward for letting his attack ads say what he’s scared to do himself, a serious provocation for a man who thinks of himself as a “warrior.”

If McCain was smart and disciplined, he’d ignore the attack. But based on everything we’ve seen in the campaign to date, he’ll probably take the bait and launch a choleric and ill-advised attack during the final debate.