Barack Obama is on vacation for a week and John McCain can't help but be a bit jealous. “I think if you were going to take a week off, this is probably an intelligent time to do it,” the presumptive Republican nominee told the New York Times. Obama's absence from the campaign trail gives McCain a great opportunity to grab the media spotlight. His top aides say he'll take full advantage. But listening to McCain, he'd sure like to have a couple days off. He told the Times that when he sets aside a day of down time, his aides fill it with briefings and meetings. The 71-year-old senator, who would become the oldest person elected president if he wins the election, also admits he doesn't like getting up early. “If I can sleep in until about 7:30 or 8, then it really helps me,” he told the Times. “I think when I get up real early, like 5:30 or 6, and don’t go to bed until 10, 10:30 or 11, it seems to help me get up a little later in the morning.” “If I put in three or four 18-hour, 20-hour days in a row, then I’m not sharp,” he said later. “It’s just a fact.”
