McCain: Time for a Campaign Tuneup

I know that the McCain campaign over the past few weeks has done a good job of exposing Obama trying to use the race card to smear McCain, exposing his presumptuous, over-the-top behavior during his European celebrity tour and implausibly suggesting routine car maintenance is a serious policy response to our energy supply deficit. But Obama is still topping McCain in most polls. It's not enough, in a change election year, to raise questions about your opponent. Some of my observations/suggestions:

• More Direct/Spontaneous, Simplify the Message, Less Rehearsed Presentation. If I had a dime for each time I heard the phrase: "This Transcendental Challenge That We Face Called Radical Islamic Extremism".... I understand the need to stay on message. But it sounds too academic, too contrived. The people understand that Democrats love political spin and symbolism. But: "We are going after them 24 hours a day; no cave or hole in the ground is safe, no person they can trust. We won't rest until we get them dead or alive. And each person on this mission will be told one thing: 'Remember 9/11? Never again!'"
• A More Respectful Campaign. The celebrity ad did spark a lot of publicity, but the message was muddled with an implied comparison to vapid starlet blondes. There were more direct ways to make a legitimate point, e.g., by quoting Obama's cocky, over-the-top comments. Also, I've seen a couple of instances where McCain seems to smirk in the middle of comparing Obama with himself.
• Do an Alternative Take on the Richardson Presidential Qualifications Ad. For example, we have a job interviewer, i.e., the American voter. We can see Obama's references: his next-door neighbor Tony Rezko, his spiritual mentor Jeremiah Wright, his fundraiser William Ayers. Who did you beat in your first 1996 Democratic primary for the state senate? It says here your lawyers got the Democratic incumbent tossed off the ballot, as well as your other competitors...We see all these "present" votes and and the fact you took an Hawaiian vacation while your vote was needed for an important piece of legislation: can you explain these gaps? What legislative accomplishment in the US Senate are you proudest of? Can you tell us how you contributed to the process? Do you have any military or foreign policy experience? Any management experience beyond your Senate staff? It says here the next President is going to have to work with people across the aisle...Tell us, any bipartisan legislation? Can you give us an example of a concession you made to get the deal done? Do you have any Republican legislators whom will vouch for your good faith effort? It says here the National Journal named you the most liberal senator of 2007... Do you think you can relate to the average voter out there, whom can't afford to shop for groceries at Whole Foods, whom believe in God, serving one's country through the military and what the Bible says about marriage, whom believe in the right to protect their family, and whom can't afford to send their kids to expensive private universities?
  
• Leadership We Can Trust. Judgment We Can Rely On. Ready From Day One. A Dangerous World Doesn't Wait. Note that in 2003, McCain stood up to Bush and the Pentagon and told them they didn't have enough boots on the ground. McCain was spot on about the Russian invasion of Georgia from day one and recognized Putin for what he is. In a related manner, point out Obama's "present" votes in the Illinois Senate, his constant vacillation on trade, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, gun rights, Iraq timetables, oil drilling, etc. Another President said, "The buck stops here." You have to be ready to make the hard decisions, not wait for focus groups or polls to tell you what to do.
• Reinforce the Fact that Obama is Ducking Joint Townhalls and Debates. Point out that Obama speaks very well, so long as he has a prepared speech or a teleprompter. You might well show clips of Obama fumbling for words or caught flat-footed by a 7-year-old girl asking him why he wants to be President. You might have a running total of days since John McCain initially called for townhall meetings, and then, after noting Obama's absence, follow with another in a patent series of "Straight Talk" sessions. For example, note that unemployment is up in places like Michigan. Then point out that Barack Obama is giving the same old Washington tried-and-failed liberal answers of trade protectionism, make-work projects, uncompetitive corporate tax rates, and counterproductive windfall profits taxes that make our energy deficit worse. We have better ways: minimize the government footprint on small businesses, give businesses a tax incentive to invest more in America, expand training opportunities and incentives for people to land higher-paying, in-demand jobs, and expand merit-based immigration to give opportunities for well-trained foreigners wanting to come to America to fill in-demand positions that American business need to staff to compete or grow or build their own businesses.
• Make Corn Ethanol and Food Inflation a Campaign Issue. McCain needs to argue that by subsidizing an energy-inefficient way to generate ethanol, the Democrats have not only shown how Washington does a bad job of trying to micromanage energy production and giving taxpayer handouts to Big Agriculture, but it is imposing a de facto tax on the poor and middle-class with related price increases on corn products, eggs, and meat. I would recommend lowering the tariff on imports of Brazilian ethanol and focusing any future subsidies for ethanol on more energy-efficient plants that don't compete with food, e.g., earless corn or switchgrass.
  
• Have John McCain, In His Own Words, Explain Why He Wants to Be President, the Values and Principles That Drive His Public Service, His Family. John seems to be reluctant to use his family as political props and to have others respect their privacy. But while everyone knows about John the POW and War Hero, not everyone knows John as the son and father. It might be great to show a clip of John and one of his sons hiking the Grand Canyon to reassure people about his vigor and health. Let John talk about the Presidents he admires and their qualities in today's world.
• A Strong Leader Who Can Be Counted on to Stand Up to a Tax-and-Spend Democratic Congress. John McCain will be a faithful steward of taxpayer money. No more boondoggles or earmarks. Eliminate duplication by merging related agencies and departments; reengineer business processes; implement best practices. Use retirements to build a leaner, more productive civil service.
  
• Unconditional Bipartisan Talks. To Solve Real Problems. Now. Medicare funding. Social security. Crumbling infrastructure. The twin deficits (budget and trade).
  
• Deal with Obama's Drafting Strategy. [Drafting, using a swimming metaphor, refers to coasting along in another swimmer's wake, expending less energy; the general strategy is to let the lead swimmer tire himself and then near the end of the race, suddenly break away and use his conserved energy to spurt ahead of the tiring lead swimmer.] Initially Obama's response to the Georgia crisis was a diplomatically neutral response, whereas McCain's was sure-footed response to Russia's invasion. Even though Obama migrated to McCain's stand, he took none of the risk--and any misstep could have been politically exploited. Obama has also been trying to co-opt John McCain's positions in a blatant attempt to appeal to independents with seemingly centrist opinions which contrast sharply with documented positions, e.g., Supreme Court cases, for one decision favoring an individual right to a gun for self-defense (vs. Obama's support for the DC comprehensive ban on guns) and against a decision ruling out capital punishment for child sex offenders (vs. Obama's general position against the death penalty)
  
• Need to More Sharply Contrast McCain's from Obama's Positions. McCain needs to understand that most liberals are going to see his populist stands on the environment, Big Business, and tax fairness as pale imitations of Democratic Party policies. I think, for instance, he needs to give up the ghost on drilling on ANWR and say national economic security requires it and we have the small footprint/environmentally-friendly technology to do that. The same thing for various conditions for offshore drilling, like state veto power, distance from shore, etc. I was very intrigued by the gas tax holiday; I would like to see more focus on tax cuts in the form of credits for payroll taxes, allow a certain flat level of income exemptions for interest, dividend and/or capital gains, etc.
  
• Craft a More Positive Message. Veep Candidate Governor Pawlenty recently noted how a positive campaign, like Reagan's, resonated with voters and implied Barack's "yes we can" message also connected. John McCain should remind people that we are facing tough times, but we've pulled through tough times before, like the period following 9/11 when nobody wanted to fly on airplanes. Today airlines are facing a different challenge (high energy costs). But just as the United States found a way to come back after the preemptive attack on Pearl Harbor, from stock market crashes, etc., we will find a way through this housing crisis, to compete in a tough global economy, to stand up to global terrorism, to solve the problem for energy independence. But the way we're going to do it is not by a paternalistic concept of government, of micromanaging the economy, or making endless promises we can't keep of things that your country can do for you: the challenge is what we can do for our country to using our talents, our resources, our hard work and due diligence to make a difference.