By MARTIN SCHRAM, Scripps Howard News Service

On television Tuesday, a presidential candidate I know well was blasting the Senate's "shabby treatment" of judicial nominees and basking in virtue for having voted to confirm presidential picks despite differences with their philosophies.

With the energy crisis fueling the economic crisis -- with prices soaring, growth stalling and Americans desperate for a leader with a plan -- President Bush exhibited the sort of leadership and intellect on Tuesday that has made his presidency what it is today.

In an age of terrorism when strong, trusted leadership is essential, America's global image has plunged to depths that were unthinkable even a few years ago.

Karl Rove has been mothballed. The Swift Boaters have been decommissioned. But conservatives need not despair. The Republican presidential nominee won't be needing their special political services this time around.Because Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are doing their campaign dirty work for them.

In a rare campaign happening, the bandwagons of all three surviving presidential candidates left the campaign trail, rolled up Capitol Hill, and began circling the two living symbols of the calamitous Iraq war that divides not only them but us.

Gleaming white against the black night sky just beyond the outfield fence, the Capitol dome looms as a reminder that Washington's new ballpark is not just spectacular, but also a national monument of sorts.

We Americans have just one more chance to get it right in Iraq.We failed tragically in the invasion of Iraq five years ago when our leaders marched us into the war without a clue about the tumult and insurgency that would result from a policy that was built upon baseless assumptions, blind faith and boundless hubris.

Racial controversy suddenly exploded like roadside bombs, blasting Barack Obama's bandwagon into a campaign-trail ditch. A firestorm of doubts about his ties to an incendiary pastor, plus incoming flak over his hesitant response, threatened to undo all he had accomplished.

Political candidates are like surfers, always seeking the perfect wave -- the perfect video wave -- conveying the image they can ride to victory.

Official Washington and the news media that feed it have been so preoccupied by America's multiple wars half a world away that they paid scant attention when a military crisis erupted in their own back yard.