Campaigning in Des Moines, Iowa on Friday, Barack Obama said: "On the day of the Iowa caucus, my faith in the American people was vindicated, and what you started here in Iowa has swept the nation."

At a rally in Ohio yesterday, McCain responded to Obama's statement:

"We learn more and more about Senator Obama. He said the other day that his primary victory ‘vindicated’ his faith in America,” McCain said to boos from more than 3,000 supporters at his rally in Northern Virginia today. “My country has never had to prove anything to me, my friends. I have always had faith in it and I have been humbled and honored to serve it. “

Ben Smith writes that Obama's statement was "a variation on his usual line that it had been vindicated by the process." So was Obama trying to say that his "faith in the American people" was "vindicated" because his victory proved that an underdog could prevail? I'm guessing that if the underdog in the presidential election is defeated on Tuesday, Obama's "faith in the American people" will remain "vindicated." And Michelle Obama might even say she's proud of her country for the second time in her adult life.