Soccer Dad

Who and what mccain needs

John Podhoretz observes in Obama is passing the war test

There's every reason to believe he doesn't mean most of it. But so what? Particularly when it comes to Iraq, the real question about Obama's leadership has never been whether he would stick to an anti-war line, but what he would do when faced with the practical reality that the United States may be snatching victory from the jaws of what appeared to be a near-certain defeat just around the time he decided to run for president.

He doesn't have to convince me that he's changed and he won't. (Though I don't think he would govern as far to the left as some people fear even with a pliant legislature.) He does have to convince those undecideds that he's not so far out of the mainstream and he may be doing that.

William Kristol echoes the sentiment in "So where's Murphy?"

Even Obama's adjustments for the general election -- his flip-flops -- have served in an odd way to enhance his stature. Some of them suggest, after all, that he is at least trying to think seriously about what he would do if he were actually president. So Obama has achieved the important feat, as the campaign has moved on, of seeming an increasingly plausible president. McCain seems a less plausible president today than he did when he clinched the nomination.

(So how do you counter the assertion that Sen. Obama has adjusted his position based on new evidence presented to him? Argue that you got it right the first time, the presidency is no place for on the job training.)

Kristol hopes that soon McCain's campaign will complete its makeover by the addition of Michael Murphy.

"Murphy" is Mike Murphy, the 46-year-old G.O.P. strategist who masterminded John McCain's 2000 primary race against George Bush, helping McCain come close to pulling off an amazing upset. Murphy was then chief strategist for Mitt Romney's successful Massachusetts governor run in 2002.

Murphy remained close to both men, and as a result sat out the G.O.P. nominating contest this past year, not wishing to work against either of them. It was widely assumed, though, that if either McCain or Romney won the nomination, the winner would bring Murphy on board for the general election. So far it hasn't happened. I believe it soon will.

What should the McCain target (with or without Murphy)?

Dick Morris and Eileen McGann write that while Obama struck first, his approach left him open:

But now, there is a heaven-sent opportunity for McCain to strike. In his effort to move to the center, Obama has distorted his own record, meager though it may be, and is taking credit for a program he strongly opposed. McCain should immediately run an ad in all of the states in which his opponent is advertising setting forth the facts and explaining Obama's distortion.

A good tag line for the ad would be: "John McCain: when you have real experience, you don't need to exaggerate."

The cost of not reacting could be prohibitive.

But, if McCain doesn't answer, or just replies with his own positive ad, he will let Obama move to the center, a key mistake from which he may never recover. If Obama can hold his 5-10 point lead until the conventions, he will have set in place a pattern that will be very hard to change. With his new ad, Obama could even elevate his lead to double digits.

From what Kristol writes about Murphy, it would appear that Murphy is well suited to the challenge. The question then would be whether he will join the McCain team in time.