Spill in aisle one

In the week that was on the presidential campaign, Barack Obama rather clearly won the image war with John McCain.

He flew in a helicopter with General David Petraeus in Iraq, laid a wreath at a Holocaust memorial in Israel, looked out over a sea of 200,000 cheering supporters in Germany, and stood alongside French President Nicolas Sarkozy in a press conference setting usually reserved for presidents, not someone who wants to be president.

McCain, on the other hand, rode a golf cart with the first President Bush and spoke in front of a German restaurant.

Then, there was the unfortunate episode in a Pennsylvania grocery store. Not only did he end up giving a press conference in front of a full case of processed cheese products. There was a mishap with stocking the applesauce as he walked down the aisle that has been replayed on cable TV and even was lampooned on Comedy Central.

But, then again, it's not entirely clear that imagery and stagecraft sway any votes.