One way or the other, the Obama campaign is letting itself get dragged down into the mud.  I don't mean to sound like a typical Democrat here, but I just don't see how we can lose this election if it's about the issues!  Heh.

Further, McCain fighting back against Obama's scurrilous charges of racism isn't "dirty politics".  It's called standing up for yourself!  

McCain MUST hold Ohio and Florida, both of which are very competitive for Obama. Meanwhile, Obama will pull NM and Iowa into the blue from 2004, already putting him at 264. From there he only needs to steal Colorado, Montana, or Virginia.

Not to mention the massive funding differential after the conventions.

Emotional McCain

And I was thinking what a compelling (and insidious) viral message this could become.

"A senior official in the Clinton administration who worked with McCain on Bosnia and Kosovo, where McCain defied most of his Republican colleagues to support strong U.S. action against Serbia, agreed. "In the many, many years that I've been in Washington," this former official said, insisting on anonymity to avoid upsetting McCain, "John McCain is far and away the most emotional politician I have ever met."

""McCain is all emotion," the former official continued. "People don't understand that, so they keep talking about his temperament, his temper. He reacts emotionally, therefore unpredictably." "

Handled by surrogates and by using McCain's fairly hefty record of emotional outbursts over the years, it wouldn't even have to become a central opposition theme, just a lingering aura of doubt about how equipped he is temperamentally for the strenuous demands of CiC.

I also think Obama's use of the race card, both against Hillary and McCain, is about as dirty as you can get. Is there any criticism of the guy that his supporters won't claim is racist? People asking why McCain used Britney and Paris as examples of substance-free celebrities, instead of Oprah and Tom Cruise, and claiming that it can only be because the Obama camp wants to send the message that Obama wants to have sex with white women? Sorry, but the Obama camp has poisoned the well more than anyone else in this campaign.

But I won't :)

Obama needs to start acting like a candidate who wants to win, and who will stick up for his voters. No more big events. No more big speeches. That gimmick worked during the primaries, but that's over. What is needed are quick rebuttals of McCain attacks. Specific plans. Pictures of Obama talking to everyday people.

McCain did a very effective ad, and his point was utterly valid.  The question was, "what has Obama done except being famous for being famous?"

The Obama campaign tried (through surrogates and sold-out bloggers and commentators such as Josh Marshall, Atrios, and Eugene Robinson) to say that this was ..umm... somehow racist.  Obama himself stoked the fire by saying, ".. they'd say I don't look like other Presidents on the dollar bills...".

McCain campaign is absolutely right again. Obama camp and surrogates tried to play the race card (they were feeding the journalists like crazy), and McCain camp went ballistic.

On Morning Joe today, Andrea Mitchell looked like the pathetic hack that she is and tried to spin Obama camp's points like crazy.  She called Obama's remarks 'self-depracating'.  As if!  Even Mika B. called her on it.  

The undecideds on the Dem side are huge, and that does not bode well for Obama; he should be riding a mid-teens margin over McCain, and he's not.

Dem's should be concerned. The election isn't a done deal. McCain will take the independants. Obama needed to be here solidifying his base instead of a grand stand international tour. It made no sense to run a "victory" lap before the race.

Perhaps, just perhaps, McCain's camp has grasped hold of something about Obama that has bothered many Americans, but wasn't covered because it was the MSM making Obama a "celebrity" instead of a politician running for President.  

People need to get over this HRC thing. The country needs a Democratic president too badly.

Its true that the closer we get to the election after Labor day, we're going to finally get the people to pay close attention to him and McCain's barrage of negative ads will be in the collective psyche of the electorate.

As bad as McShame is he is still a war heeero with limited range of motion to his arms and that inescapable vision will push the lever in his favor come election day.

If Obama was smart, he'd attack McCain on his 100 year war mention and ask how do you propose to 1. pay for it or 2. do you intend to bring the draft to man it?  

By pandering to the right wing, which may in fact be his home, he is losing the attention of what should be his base.

The economy stinks.
The war in Iraq drags on.
Threats of more wars are in the hopper.

McCain is clearly identified with all of these.
Donald Duck could defeat him if Mr. Duck could enunciate clear alternatives to the status quo.

Obama is a terrible nominee.

Leaving personal politcs out of it IMHO Obama is a better candidate.   He looks better, sounds better, is smooth (except when off script sometimes).   If he had 6 more years or so of experience he'd be unbeatable.

But reality is his lack of experience and his metoric rise to fame is the one thing McCain can really attack.   If it wasn't such a weakness McCain wouldn't be going after him.   McCain is old.  What else is he supposed to say.