Jim Geraghty, of The Campaign Spot, is one of the best political writers around. He has discovered a gem in Barack Obama's book The Audacity of Hope (title taken from a now under-the-bus Jeremiah Wright), where Obama waxed eloquent about how much he loves "Town Hall Meetings." This is the same Obama who is now avoiding standing side-by-side with John McCain at Town Hall Meetings across America! Here's Geraghty's taken on this:

Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope, p. 101-102:

"One of my favorite tasks of being a senator is hosting town hall meetings. I held thirty-nine of them my first year in the Senate, all across Illinois, in tiny rural towns like Anna and prosperous suburbs like Naperville, in back churches in the South Side and a college in Rock Island... For the next hour or so, I answer to the people who sent me to Washington... My time with them is like a dip in a cool stream. I feel cleansed afterward, glad for the work I have chosen."

Hmm. Somehow, Senator Obama no longer wants to feel cleansed by those dips in cool streams.

Obama on Friday rejected McCain's proposal for 10 joint town-hall appearances, question-and-answer gatherings before small audiences that the Republican senator tends to favor. The Democrat has performed best at massive, emotional rallies drawing tens of thousands of people.

Obama has offered to meet McCain in five joint appearances between now and the Nov. 4 election, but only one of those would be town hall-style and it would be on the July 4th Independence Day holiday, when few Americans would be watching. McCain called the offer "a very disappointing response."

If Obama can do thirty-nine town hall meetings in a year, why can't he do more than one between now and Election Day?