March towards the Sound of Guns. Not.

Back in the good old days, when armies marched on their feet rather than Humvees, they had a simple saying: “March towards the sound of the guns.”

The reason is pretty simple. Under normal conditions, armies are scattered across the countryside. The key skill for an army commander is to get all his units to the battlefield before the other chap.

Of course, in real life there are units marching around, or camped, who haven’t got the word. But if they got to the battlefield then they could help. Indeed, they might make the decisive difference between victory and defeat.

So when Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) declined to go to Washington DC to help in the final stages of putting the Great Mortgage Bailout Act together, he was violating this fundamental principle of conflict. Whaddya mean, call me if you want me?

A guy who wants to be president should be feeling: “I just can’t wait!” He should be foaming with impatience to get to work and solve the nation’s problems, to get into the room where critial decisions are being made.

But no. Sen. Obama elected to stay in Florida preparing for the presidential debate on foreign policy. Foreign policy? How about acting like the leader of your party and corralling senators and representatives together to get a solution to the nation’s economic crisis?

It goes deeper than that. Back to the military metaphor. Suppose you were a young, untested formation commander. You hear the sound of guns. What do you do? You march towards the sound of the guns. Here, at last is your chance to show the old buffers what you are made of. Here is the chance to deploy your troops and smash into the tired enemy troops that have been fighting all day. Here is your chance to show that you are made for greatness—and there may never be another chance.

If I were an Obama supporter, I would have a nasty feeling in my stomach today.