Tired of high oil prices? At least one man thinks the price is going to come down, sooner rather than later.

As long as they remain high, though, it's bad news for the airlines, and the flying public.

Of course, as Charles Krauthammer points out, $4 a gallon gasoline does seem to be the price point that actually changes behavior here in America. He laments the fact, though, that we could have changed behavior ourselves by taxing gasoline up to that level and keeping the proceeds for ourselves, rather than sending the money to foreigners.

George Will says Obama doesn't need Hillary down the hall. Bill Kristol believes the Obama team has already begun the process of moving on from the Clintons.

Now that the general election campaign has begun, it's time to see where we stand. Mort Kondracke points out that, based on historical analysis, the odds are very good that Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States. Certainly, when you look at the "facts on the ground", it doesn't look good for John McCain. Obama is younger and more eloquent. McCain's party has held the White House for eight years, and the current occupant is quite unpopular. Most importantly, the economy is in trouble, with a recession already happening or just on the horizon, with foreclosures up, joblessness up, bankruptcies up, inflation surely on the rise as fuel and food prices soar, and consumer confidence dropping. Add to that our involvement in a war that seems without a victory scenario, and it should all fall in the Democrats laps this year.

But...check this out. It is Karl Rove's Electoral Map. It shows a close Presidential contest. If McCain wins all the Southern states, and that seems likely (only Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina are even competitive at the moment, based on polling data), all the Border states with the exception of Maryland, and holds the traditional GOP states in the West (except California, Oregon and Washington), then he wins. Here is one possible scenario:

McCain wins if he takes the Southern States (the old Confederacy), Florida-27, Georgia-15, Alabama-9, Mississippi-6, Louisiana-9, Texas-34, Arkansas-6, Tennessee-11, South Carolina-8, North Carolina-15 and Virginia-13 for a total of 153 Electoral votes. Add the Border States (so-called because they bordered the Southern states that joined the Confederacy), of Missouri-11, and Kentucky-8 (but not Maryland-10), and McCain gets to 172. Add West Virginia-5 and Oklahoma-7, he gets to 184. Then, out West, you put Arizona-10, Utah-5, Wyoming-3, Idaho-4, Nevada-5, Montana-3 and South Dakota-3 and he gets to 217. If you add the Midwest states where Obama did poorly against Clinton, Ohio-20, Indiana-11 and Michigan-17, then he gets to 265. Then he needs only to win Nebraska-5, or win New Hampshire-4 and North Dakota-3, and he is over the top.

Granted, this is an imperfect scenario, and it is only June. Obama now has the time and space to unify his party. They are fired up, and all the other factors are in their favor. If I had to bet money, I would still not take McCain to win. But it is a lot closer than it ought to be.