"In an age of all-out political warfare, the Obama campaign is a bit of an odd duck: It is not obsessed with winning each news cycle. The Illinois senator remains a remote figure to those covering him, and his team, while competent and professional, makes only spotty attempts to drive its preferred story lines in the press."

QUICK MONDAY, MONDAY:
* Good read: "America's standing in the world remains in steady decline. Why?"
* Bush as speechwriter-in-chief.
* So, uh, do carbon offsets actually work?
* "The palm, which researchers say essentially 'flowers itself to death,' is not only a new species. It has forced palm biologists to invent an entirely new genus to accommodate it."
* Hee. Examining the candidates' chosen fonts. (Courtesy uu_mom.)