If McCain could also move away from his ideological commitment to supply side economics and migrate towards a mixed and innovative economic response that commands praise from across the political spectrum - in short, to act like a man of the future and not the past - he might have a better shot. That would leverage the doubt about Obama’s character by giving Indies a solid reason to vote for him. The suggestion that the government purchase the troubled securities and not just the derivatives stacked on top of them might be a move in that direction.

Its very late to do that, however. McCain’s antics bring to mind that old Ben Franklin business: “If you get the reputation as an early riser, youc an sleep late in the morning.” Perceptions harden at some point in the campaign, and its extremely difficult to dispel them. McCain might have done this 6-8 weeks ago. It’s going to be almost impossible now. And Palin would be highly detrimental to that effort, because what he’s aiming to do is to convince Indies that he’s serious about good government and not just a high priest in the Temple of Reagan. She’s just a braying clown. (I feel better now.)

West Virginia: Obama 50 - McCain 42 (!!!)

New Hampshire: Obama 52 - McCain 43

Minnesota: Obama 47 - McCain 46

Missouri: McCain 49 - Obama 46

Montana: McCain 50 - Obama 45

Ohio: Obama 48 - McCain 45

There’s ‘no there there’
Both campaigns had no rationale other than a sense of entitlement
It’s MY TURN

Both candidates suffered from opportunism
Clinton supporting the Iraq War and Kyl-Lieberman
McCain flip flopping on principlesd stands, Torture, tax cuts, the far right, off shore drilling, honorable campaigns

Neither had any real plan for winning their election. They thought they DESERVED to win

What did either STAND FOR ?

And both Bill Clinton and John McCain have diminished their statures and reputions with their sleazy tacticss

Game over

But, how does Obama govern ?
What is his mandate ?
How do we get the economy out of this mess ?

McCain could have been a real contender, if he had picked someone like Romney or Huckabee for his VP, and totally portrayed himself as the opposite of Bush-and-Cheney: Transparency in governmment, against torture, willingness to talk to the enemy, willingness to reach across the ailse, willingness to take on his own party…

But his has wasted his candidacy on cheap and petty attacks on Obama’s character, has chosen a brainless far-right bimbo to be VP, and not sufficiently separated himself and his campaign from Bush’s negative legacy.

The Ayers-Wright-Resko issues were brought up during the primaries, and they failed. They’re not new news. McCain cannot win without winning over more moderates than he would lose by the adoption any particular tactic, and rehashing these associations would raise his own negatives and offset any gains.

Hence he’s having his surrogates do so in order that he can provide a more positive message while trying to stay unassociated with the attacks. But I think most voters don’t look at the sources of the attacks; they will be associated with the McCain campaign regardless.

I understand the view that if McCain is going to adopt the disqualification tactic, he should go for it big time. But given the obvious drawbacks of that strategy, it’s understandable that he’s taking an approach where he tries to get the same message out yet tries to remain personally detached from it: if it works, it would be more effective for him than having him make the same (mostly ridiculous) assertions himself. The problem is it won’t work, but it’s hard to see anything else that has any better chance at this point.