This is typical of what is happening to McCain, who is a stronger candidate than many in media realize. On his own he does fine. But when saddled with decisions by his party or by the Bush White House, he begins to from suffer voter "jet lag."

Meanwhile, Camp Obama is licking its chops over the Delta dilemma, the sinking economy, and the remaining, if unspoken, lack of enthusiasm for McCain among some Republican Party leaders and prominent conservatives.

With Obama having a sizeable cash advantage over McCain, huge voter registration efforts of African-American voters in states such as Georgia and North Carolina are well underway.

Meanwhile, McCain is left having to try to ignite a fire under the Republican faithful. His efforts in many ways have seemed disorganized or bumbling.

Even McCain's move to propose that Florida be allowed to drill offshore for oil should the state so choose is a double-edged sword. It certainly puts forth a practical answer to folks suffering from astronomically high gasoline prices on the table. But there is a reason why former Gov. Jeb Bush always opposed allowing such exploration to take place; it wasn't popular with residents on Florida's coasts.

Whether the tide of public opinion on the issue has changed or not remains to be seen. But with Florida now back in the news on presidential politics, McCain will have to fight all the harder to win states like Minnesota.

The best news for John McCain is that he's John McCain. He is smart and savvy. If he remains independent in this thinking, he can find his way to staying competitive and possibly winning.

But with little time bombs like the Delta-Northwest deal lurking out there, he will have to navigate carefully in the "unfriendly skies" of presidential politics.