Vladimir Putin may not have set out to alter the course of the general election, but his decision to invade Georgia has made it far more likely that his nemesis, the battered bruiser John McCain, will square off against him in January.

Since Russian tanks rumbled across the Georgian border, Mr. McCain has come out swinging against what he sees as the resurrection of Old Russia, the hibernating ursine giant that from time to time wakens to maul its neighbors.

The former navy pilot not only leapt on the invasion to stress his readiness to be commander in chief but cannily distanced himself once more from the president. Mr. Bush said that gazing into Mr. Putin’s eyes he saw deep into the Russian despot’s soul. Mr. McCain’s take? “I looked into his eyes and saw three letters: a K, a G, and a B.”

Barack Obama’s response to Mr. Putin’s aggression has been, to put it mildly, tepid. Mr. Obama is living proof that good politics is often more a matter of image than of action, but he may rue the day he stayed building sand castles on Kailua Beach rather than fly home to tell how he would handle one of the worst threats to world peace since Russia planted missiles in Cuba 50 years ago.

Mr. Obama’s muted utterances between Hawaiian ice creams has confirmed the sense he is not yet ready to lead. According to the Wall Street Journal/NBC poll for July, taken long before Mr. Putin invaded Georgia, Mr. Obama lags well behind Mr. McCain as “a good commander in chief,” by 53 points to 25, and as “knowledgeable and experienced enough to handle the presidency,” by 53 points to 19.

Since returning to the fray this week, Mr. Obama has remained sotto voce on the invasion, snippily defending his past statements rather than explain how he would solve the crisis. It is still not obvious that he has realized the full import of what happened in the Caucasus.

Ten days after Russian troops marched in, his Web site’s foreign policy section still does not mention the word Georgia. Or Russia. Or the Ukraine. Or Moldova. Or the Baltic States.

Instead there is this classic piece of Obama flummery: “I will send once more a message to those yearning faces beyond our shores that says, ‘You matter to us. Your future is our future. And our moment is now.’ “

If Mr. Obama wants to retake the initiative from Mr. McCain, he should first tell the new best friends he made on his honeymoon tour of Europe, “Look out! The wolf is at your door!” Typical of the ignominious European response to Georgia was Italy’s foreign minister, Franco Frattini, “We cannot create an anti-Russia coalition in Europe, and on this point we are close to Putin’s position. This war has pushed Georgia further away … from Europe.”

Notwithstanding Mr. Bush’s embarrassing amateur psychoanalysis, the president fully understood the urgency of erecting a cordon sanitaire around Russia, pleading with NATO leaders in April to grant Georgia and Ukraine early entry. France and Germany vetoed the idea, cravenly claiming it might offend Russia.

Mr. Obama should insist on bringing forward the NATO December summit to grant these two vulnerable nations fast track entry. He should demand the president sign without delay missile defense deals with the Czech Republic and Ukraine, as he has just done with Poland.

Mr. Obama should tell Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel that, rather than pursuing their pusillanimous accommodation of Mr. Putin’s territorial conquests, as evidenced by the inept French negotiation of the non-existent Russian “ceasefire” and “withdrawal,” they should bind to the European Union countries, such as Moldova, that are exposed to Russian aggression.

Mr. Obama should go further, declaring that those who do not play by civilization’s rules should not be sat at the democrats’ table. Russia should not be allowed to observe NATO at close quarters, as it does at the NATO-Russia Council; Mr. Putin should be disinvited from joining G-7 summits as the eighth member; Russia should not be granted membership of the World Trade Organization.

If he wishes to punish Mr. Putin, Mr. Obama should demand that the IOC’s insidious decision to give Russia the Winter Olympics in 2014 should be rescinded. The scale of the IOC’s treachery is now evident.

Last year, the Russian city of Sochi was awarded the games, even though it abuts the disputed Georgian province of Abkhazia, already occupied by Russian “peace keeping” forces. Insult was added to injury as the IOC blessed Russia’s bid while denying that of the Georgian ski resort of Borjomi.

Mr. Obama might also ponder what to do about the Russian billionaires who are buying up homes, yachts, businesses, and soccer teams around the globe. They profit from the gangsterism that confounds Western businesses in Russia, yet feel entitled to enjoy the fruits of the West, its rule of law, and its myriad liberties. They should be persona non grata here until they have persuaded Mr. Putin to change his ways.

Mr. Obama desperately needs a vice presidential candidate who can make up for his lack of credibility on national security and, of the trio of names most mooted, the veteran foreign affairs specialist Senator Biden best fits the bill.

If he is to help overcome Mr. Obama’s perceived weakness, Mr. Biden’s first statement as running mate should be to speak up loudly and unequivocally in defense of Georgia’s freedom.

nwapshott@nysun.com