Two month ago, John McCain challenged Barack Obama to visit Iraq, expecting him to decline, but Obama called the bluff. He saw McCain's Iraq and raised him Afghanistan, Israel, and three European nations. Never one to fold easily, McCain raised Obama right back. Fresh from his own mission-critical visits to Columbia and Mexico, McCain suggested that Obama to visit "some of the other countries of the Americas for the first time." Obama has not yet responded to this latest challenge, but pundits suggest that in light of his inexperience in intrahemispheric relations, he has no choice but to tour Central and South America, Canada, Greenland, and the Galapagos. Fortunately for Obama, he recently vacationed in the Virgin Islands, so he can cross one remote island chain off the list.

Democratic strategists have expressed concern that McCain will next challenge Obama to visit Africa, Australia, and Antarctica, which could keep Obama off the campaign trail until November. But there are new hints from insiders at the McCain campaign that they have prepared an even more formidable stratagem. Hank Moody, one of McCain's top national security advisers, recently implied that unlike McCain, Obama has little aviation experience. According to Moody, "If you were riding in a plane that was being shot at by terrorists, I think that most Americans would prefer to have an experienced Navy pilot like John McCain in the cockpit. I mean, Obama might sound nice over the intercom when he tells you to relax and enjoy your flight, but that's not the priority when terrorists are shooting missiles at you."

Taken on its own, such a comment might be interpreted as typical political posturing, but a second comment by McCain's chief torture adviser, Fred Krueger, hints at a broader strategy. Discussing the possible closure of Guantanamo Bay, Krueger suggested that Obama lacks torture experience: "John McCain was tortured for five years by the Vietnamese. Barack Obama, maybe he's seen torture in the movies--there were some pretty gnarly scenes in Saw 2--but he doesn't have personal experience with it. I don't think Americans trust someone with zero experience to set torture policy."

Political analysts have suggested that these statements may be part of a choreographed strategy to prepare the stage for McCain to argue that Obama should be shot down over Vietnam and tortured for five years. Such a challenge would certainly offer risks for McCain. If Obama were to meet the challenge, McCain would lose one of his primary political advantages, as he would then be unable to differentiate himself based on his experience as a war hero. Moreover, if Obama were shot down over Vietnam, he would gain the credibility to openly question whether having one's plane shot down is a qualification for serving as President. On the other hand, the risk to Obama in accepting the challenge is substantial. Even under ideal conditions, being shot down is dangerous and can result in injury or death, which might impede Obama's political career. Second, there is no guarantee that Obama would be able to resist the torture. Were he to become brainwashed and leak military secrets to the Vietnamese, he would be unable to obtain the military clearance necessary to be Commander in Chief. Finally, even if it were to help him win the election, five years of torture would interfere with his ability to run the country. While technology improvements have made working remotely more feasible than ever before, there is no substitute for face-to-face meetings in the Oval Office and photo ops on the White House lawn.

Obama may yet have a face-saving way out. Though they once relished shooting American planes and torturing the pilots, the Vietnamese have reformed many of their old policies, and they may decline the opportunity to torture as prominent an American as Barack Obama. Nonetheless, the Vietnamese government remains unpredictable, and Obama might not know whether he would be shot down until he entered Vietnamese air space. Furthermore, if he were to fail to be shot down by the Vietnamese, McCain may challenge him to be shot down in a more welcoming environment where resident authorities are enthusiastic about shooting planes and torturing people, such as western Pakistan, rebel-held Columbia, and Washington D.C.

That said, Obama's nimble campaign has managed to outmaneuver McCain in the past, and they may yet have a plan to neutralize the threat of such a challenge. They may, for example, go on the offensive and challenge McCain to grow up in Indonesia and become the first black president of the Harvard Law Review. Either way, pundits are advising American voters to buckle their seatbelts, as the election campaign promises to be a bumpy ride.