Clock's ticking and still no cogent message from team McCain. In fact, the failure to adopt an overarching theme akin to Obama's message of change and recent weeks of manic messaging by the McCain camp has damaged his brand. It's also opened up an opportunity for his opponent to gain so much by doing so little. Because it's too late to rebrand McCain as James Dean, not George Bush, this last debate and final message push must not inspire votes for McCain, but votes against Obama.

Three weeks is a lifetime in political campaigns. McCain must use this time wisely to sow enough doubt among the electorate that they find themselves scratching their heads, chins, whatever appropriate bodily appendage that signals uncertainty and uncomfortability with pulling the lever on Election Day for Senator Obama. McCain must invoke a crescendo of criticism and stoke the lingering skepticism surrounding his candidacy and his judgment. McCain's Family Pension and Family Security Plan being rolled out today is a necessary action, and may help solidify some seniors to which it is targeted, but the specifics will likely do little to move the masses.

The hero must persuade voters tactfully, not angrily, that this most fragile moment in our country's history since September 11th cannot be gambled away with an unknown, that electing Obama would be a dangerous experiment for our country and the world, and that the high Obama has his followers feeling will wear off and bring with it a harsh, depressing reality when they come down. McCain must warn voters desperate for a rise that Obama is a gateway drug to socialism and economic ruin to which we must just say no.

Instead of spending weeks calling Obama a celebrity this summer, team McCain should have been calling him Santa. Now is a perfect time to start. Like Santa Claus, Obama has promised the American people a long list of goodies. The reality? Both Santa Claus and Obama aren't real. Like Santa, people still want to believe in the legend but it's time McCain acted like the mature, measured adult and told voters the truth by exposing the fairytale.

From the myth he'll cut taxes for 95 percent of Americans to the tall tale he'll balance the budget and create jobs when he'll actually tax most small businesses, McCain must present voters with the reality that Obama's plans do not add up. He cannot do what he says. He will turn the tax code into a welfare system and raise taxes on those making over $40k a year despite his spin. Most importantly the ACORN doesn't fall far from the Obama. Team McCain must explain the connection between the two and what it means for an Obama Administration and for taxpayers.

Americans need to hear the truth. Particularly when the stakes are so high. Now is no time for mythology.

We are in the midst of a financial crisis that demands steadfast leadership in Washington, D.C. Voters will be starving for a President to guide them, and Senator McCain is this person. He has endured worse in his own life, and he is the man who can restore our confidence.

This is why John McCain must turn the page forward to the issues of 2008 & 2009, and not back to those of 1969. His campaign has already wasted months ridiculing Senator Obama and neglecting the innumerable reasons in favor of a McCain presidency. They are paying the price in the polls.

Now, the McCain campaign invites us to join it on a 60’s –70’s flashback, which comes in the form of Obama’s coffee klatch and board service with Weather Underground whacko Bill Ayers. Like hippies, Woodstock, and the Summer of Love, the Weather Underground is a distant memory and completely irrelevant to the financial crisis or any other problem confronting the next president.

Obama is many things: He is naïve, liberal, inconsistent, and inexperienced, but he is not a not a member of the Weather Underground. Plus, these attacks look desperate. Drop it. McCain should concentrate on the economy for the rest of the month. He must appear focused, resolute, and adult. These are uncertain times, and voters will crave his brand of steady leadership. While negative campaigning works, inane irrelevancies, in the absence of discussion relating to the financial crisis, will put Senator McCain’s candidacy at further risk.

If McCain continues to go negative, then he should remind America that it is Obamanomics, and not some crusty Weatherman, that remains a true the threat to the economy.

John McCain can still win this one. Hopefully, it will be because voters find him the man best equipped to lead us through today and tomorrow.

Webster's has two (plus) definitions for the word suspension:

1. To cause to stop temporarily;

2. To keep from falling or sinking by some invisible support.

John McCain's surprising move to suspend his campaign and postpone the first Presidential debate is hoping to invoke the meaning of the first. Sadly, it appears glaringly more like the second, or what I'd call a recipe for trouble: one part reality, one part gimmick with a dash of desperation.

The reality: the bailout has gone over like a lead balloon in Congress, and across America. The bill has faced stiff opposition from both sides of the aisle giving Bush and his Administration yet another massive bruise. (Part of that was because it wasn't sold properly, but that's a whole other column.)

Often the middle man working to find common ground and consensus on Capitol Hill, the McCain campaign sought to revive their candidate's infamous un-cola, un-Bush persona and paint him as a noble, non-partisan leader on the financial meltdown.

The gimmick: Running from Bush has always been a smart, and necessary component for McCain, until now. In his defense, as a Republican, McCain will take heat if Bush's bailout fails. This is another reason he wants to return to Washington. But suspending the campaign seems erratic and dramatic. And though, in past, the modus operandi of putting politics aside in a crisis has proved a fruitful media strategy, it reeks of politics this time around. What did the McCain campaign expect 40 days away from a Presidential election?

The desperation: some allege that another goal of this decision was to distract and divert attention. McCain has been slipping in the polls because of our emerging economic woes and has increasingly been pushed on defense. His camp needed an opportunity to create a diversion and rebrand McCain as a hero, but this is hardly what I would call changing the subject. While the McCain campaign answers process questions about the suspension, and has to defend why he has time to hang out with Bill Clinton at his Global Initiative but not debate Obama, his opponent implies skilled lawmakers should be able to multi-task and stresses the need for a debate now more than ever, a crafty counterpunch.

A contrast between the two is beginning to come to fruition. Last week McCain boldly called for the SEC Chairman's head. Never one to take a tough stand on anything, Obama chose to deliberate at a glacial pace and use a wait and see approach. Republicans tried to paint Obama as weak and unwilling to be decisive but as days passed and the proposed solutions tanked in popularity, Obama didn't seem cowardly, but practical. If our economic crisis is the unruly child then Obama has made it his mission to appear as the pragmatic, patient mother while McCain seems like the hotheaded, impulsive father. While Obama refused to rush to judgment, McCain leapt to impose a time out, a punishment and a "wait until I get home" approach. McCain's emotion may resonate with voters but from a communications standpoint this suspension move is a challenging one to message.

In an effort to run from Bush and set a trap for Obama, did McCain stumble into the netting himself? Time will tell. All Barack Obama had to do this Friday in the first debate was convince Americans he is ready to be President. Because of the McCain camp's potential misstep, he gets to seize that opportunity much sooner.

The last few months have been nothing but one massive speculation game surrounding possible McCain running mates worthy of a chart that resembles that of March Madness.

The first bracket was comprised of Beltway-perpetuated bores: South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, Former Massachusetts Governor Pitt Romney and Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty. ZZZZZZZZZ. Get me a Red Bull please.

The names slowly progressed into exciting, exotic prospects: Former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina (female), Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (Indian), and Rep. Eric Cantor (Jewish).

The third wave was more believable, but each had their own controversy: Former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge (pro-choice), NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg (a Democrat turned Republican turned Independent) and the most jaw dropping, Senator Joe Lieberman (not at all a Republican).

As we close in on the final four, we've somehow made it back to the snoozers on that first bracket, which begs the question: were these atypical, arousing names ever really a prospect at all? Not exactly...

McCain needs Independents and Reagan Democrats to win. So he gives names of pro-choice moderates--even Democrats--to give the appearance he is pragmatic, bipartisan, and willing to compromise. After weeks of chattering, people start to believe the hype. But McCain also needs the Republican base to win, a group that will be unhappy about Ridge and border on apoplectic with a Bloomberg or Lieberman selection. Thus these choices will never materialize into anything but urban political legend.

In roughly a week don't bet on being too shocked. Mr. Maverick is not going to venture off into some unchartered Republican territory like pundits predict. McCain will play it McSafe.

 

 

 

 

Last year at this time John McCain was in a bad way. His campaign was broke. His message was broken. And he had gotten away from who he was fundamentally as a candidate. One year later the problem isn't that McCain is broke. The problem is John McCain, well, isn't John McCain.

When he purged his campaign of staffers last summer, some who did him well, many who ran his campaign into the ground, one thing happened. McCain was forced to regain his mojo and returned to the role he relishes: underdog who says and does what he wants because it's right, not because a Gallup poll indicates he should. He started carrying his own bag, flying coach, and best of all: he was back to being himself. It's because of this rebirth that he was able to win New Hampshire, and ultimately the Republican nomination.

Now that he's the nominee many are asking where that fiesty, burn-down-the-house John McCain has gone. When Obama was meeting with troops in Iraq, McCain was complaining he wasn't getting enough coverage from an Obama smitten press corps. He was ticked that the New York Times didn't run his oped. Since when is McCain a whiner? Since his handlers said he should be, I suppose.

Um, John? Are you there?

In fact, the last two weeks McCain's handlers have done a better job of promoting their own personal brands than the brand of their candidate. Any political operative knows that when consultants or staffers become the story, it's never a good thing. And someone who has been in politics over two decades should know it too.

Hello? John, where are you?

Back is the flashy transportation, the regurgitated, sarcastic campaign talking points, and the gimmicky press props and Youtube videos that are the furthest thing from John McCain's persona. McCain is known for straight talk, not snide talk.

This week was an opportunity for McCain to hit Obama on domestic issues and force him to respond on foreign soil, particularly on oil and drilling when Obama was in the Middle East.

McCain's handlers would suit him best by laying off the media, getting back to the maverick message and staying out of his stories. If the Mac wants to show America he can make real change happen he should start with his own campaign.

McCain and his people did not go negative this week, they went whiney.

Obama 's trip is proving to be a tacit recognition that that McCain was right all along about the surge.

As if stridently crying "it's not fair, " McCain and his handlers are demanding that Obama admit that the surge worked.

While whining is a form of advocacy favored by third graders and liberals, it does not suit a Republican Presidential candidate. Here is a better message for McCain:

• Obama's recent comments prove that he is recognizing the advantages of John McCain's proposals for Iraq.

• This is good, because bipartisan consensus in the Senate will mean improved security for the region, and our nation.

• Now, John McCain hopes to persuade Obama on energy issues as he did on Iraq.

• John McCain has proposed the Lexington Project, an ambitious plan that will break America's dependence on foreign oil, and improve the environment.

• Senator Obama in contrast, proposes crippling energy taxes that will destroy jobs, hurt investments and continue our thirst for foreign oil. Remember Barack Obama, you can't fill your tank with a tax.

This message is strong without being shrill and will make McCain look like a leader.