One very interesting aspect of Obama's campaign is that while it would be easy, and very helpful to him, to brand John McCain as a Republican, he generally refrains from doing so: he avoids tying McCain to the word "Republican".

Instead, Obama talks about McCain's wrong-headed philosophy. He talks about McCain's ill-conceived Iraq policy. He ties McCain's policies to Bush. He talks about McCain's regressive tax plans. What Obama almost never does is utter McCain's name and the word "Republican" in the same sentence Nor does Obama generally tie himself to the Democratic party. In fact, the words "Republican" and "Democrat" rarely cross Obama's lips, except when calling for bipartisanship.

It would be very easy to tie McCain to the Republicans for the obvious reason that John McCain is a Republican. And it would be very helpful to Obama because after 8 years of a Republican president and almost as much of a Republican Senate, the Republican brand, right now, is mud. Nevertheless, Obama refrains from doing so.

Of course, this is all part of Obama's portrayal of his approach as post-partisan. That conclusion seems straightforward enough. But how much does this cost Obama in the campaign? Given how poor the Republican brand is right now, surely it costs Obama quite a lot.

And that's the interesting point: that Obama is willing to forgo very significant electoral advantage for the sake of his post-partisan approach. Obama is willing to pay a big price for it, a price that might be big enough to cost him the election (current polls let us hope it won't actually cost him the election!). This is really quite serious.

It tells us two things. First, it shows the depth of Obama's commitment to a non-partisan approach. This is far more than a convenient electoral strategy to be discarded after the election. Second, if Obama is that serious about it, we are observing something that is not just about his electoral campaign, but also about his prospective governance style.

One potential consequence during the election? Obama is not using the history of the Clinton years to help his campaign. This may annoy Bill Clinton.

One small prediction for after the election? Obama will have Republicans in his cabinet, even though he will have absolutely no political need to do so.

The most important point? I am beginning to believe that Obama really will change the nature of politics in America.