Watch out, John McCain! You don’t know what you’re up against, according to Barack Obama, who last week once again predicted his own November victory. Those statements followed Obama’s comments in San Francisco, where he hosted several fundraisers and raised close to $8 million in one day (so much for getting money out of politics). He confidently told his supporters that “I will win; don’t worry about that” and then lamented that “John McCain, all he wants to do is talk about me.” And there Obama was just minding his own business…

Despite Barack Obama’s tale of humble beginnings and a campaign premised on hope, change and post-partisanship, it is clear to anyone watching that Obama’s campaign is fueled by big money and arrogance. Even David Letterman unveiled a list of “Top 10 Signs Obama Is Overconfident,” back in July (No. 1: “Been cruising for chicks with John Edwards.”)

John McCain, picking up on this theme of Obama’s campaign, released an ad last month that detailed some of the most self-important moments in campaign history. It quoted Obama saying, “I have become a symbol of America returning to its best traditions.” It showed videos of him telling supporters, “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for” and “A light will shine down from somewhere, it will light upon you, and people will experience an epiphany, and you will say to yourself, ‘I have to vote for Barack.’” With rhetoric that sounded divinely inspired (and delusional), Obama also proclaimed, “This is the moment when the rise of our oceans began to slow and the planet began to heal.”

McCain also released an ad with images of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, implying that Obama is all style and no substance. However, in the case of Obama’s cockiness, voters should rest assured that it extends to both style and substance. A few months ago, Obama unveiled his very own, bright-blue version of the Presidential Seal, complete with his website address and logo, which the campaign quickly jettisoned after widespread mockery erupted. Obama also adopted a new campaign aircraft this summer. The American flag on its rear wing was painted over to accommodate Obama’s campaign logo.

After flying abroad in his newly decorated plane last month, Obama delivered a speech before approximately 200,000 fawning Germans during which he proclaimed, “People of Berlin, people of the world, this is our moment. This is our time.” While overseas, Obama also met with foreign leaders, with whom he said he expects to work “for the next eight to 10 years.” He huddled with battlefield commanders, whose input he valued so deeply that he published the results of his fact-finding mission on the New York Times’ editorial page days before embarking on it.

In June, he told a crowd in Chicago that “in 2016, I’ll be wrapping up my second term as President.” When asked, during a July interview, if he has any doubts, he humbly declared, “Never.” Barack Obama might be shocked to learn that in addition to not having won the Presidency yet (which journalists had to remind his advisers when they repeatedly tried to impose White House rules on Obama’s traveling press corps), he actually is trailing John McCain by up to five points in national polls.

Team Obama’s hubris is not merely rhetorical, either. As the transformational candidate of change, Obama promised to accept public campaign financing. Once he realized, however, that his greatest gift was fundraising, he changed that position but claimed that he did so for the good of the system, of course. He also has shifted his positions on other issues, from wiretapping, to troop withdrawals from Iraq, to off-shore oil drilling. Obama, educated at Harvard Law School, clearly learned to make arguments on both sides of any issue.

These examples make two things abundantly clear. First, Obama is not a change candidate who will transport us away from politics as usual anymore than John Edwards controls America’s moral high ground. Obama is a well-spoken politician who has one goal above all: Get elected. Second, what Obama lacks in experience, judgment, and sound policy, he exudes in style, buzz, and cash.

With this week’s Democratic National Convention, Obama is basking in the spotlight he relishes. When he speaks on Thursday night on a stage designed to resemble an ancient Greek temple, the event will seem more like Lollapalooza than a political gathering. Obama even has decided to test the weather Gods and deliver his speech outdoors at Denver’s Invesco Stadium to accommodate more of his fans. No worries. Both Al Gore and Barack Obama will be there. If they can slow the rise of the oceans, holding back a rainstorm for an hours should be no problem.

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Brett Joshpe is co-author, along with S.E. Cupp, of the new book, Why You’re Wrong About the Right: Behind the Myths: The Surprising Truth About Conservatives (Simon & Schuster, Threshold Editions, May 2008). Mr. Joshpe graduated from Harvard Law School in 2005 and currently practices law at New York City’s Wrobel & Schatz LLP.