At mortal batailles hadde he been fiftene,
And foughten for oure feith at Traniyssene
In lystes thries, and ay slayn his foe.
In 2007-08, Barack Obama did the knyght a few better, debating Hillary Clinton et al twenty six times, and most definitely slaying McCain thrice in their general election contests. No wonder he's nostalgic today, with the armies of the unemployed looming on the election horizon, for those mortal batailles of old.