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Take off your partisan hat: what could McCain do to win?
If you can step back from your personal political views, 
what do you think McCan could/should do to win at this point?
I think he needs to drop all personal attacks and focus on the economy. I believe his mailings, which are quite cursory, should be more detailed about his plan for the economy. I realize that bumper sticker phrasing is popular because no one believes that voters will take the time to read anything longer than three sentences, but I think they will now given the economic turmoil. Provide some detail in his mailings and do a few of those Obama-style ads looking into the camera and explaining his position. (I've seen one of these here in PA and it was quite the improvement from some of his other ads).
I also believe he needs to push the divided government argument and remind voters that Dems are posed to win Congress as well as the White House.
He needs to stop talking about Palin and the various attacks against her. They are a distraction. Let her defend herself, while he rises above it and focuses on the big issues.
Show more of a sense of humor. His Early Show appearance last week was great because he was relaxed and personable.
What do you think?
Re: Take off your partisan hat: what could McCain do to win?
Given how many prominent conservatives have cited McCain's selecting Palin for his running mate as a major concern, I'm honestly not sure what he can do. I think McCain's 2 biggest mistakes during this campaign - and there have been many - were the selection of Palin and the "suspending" of his campaign. Unfortunately for him, those ships have sailed.
I agree that the Palin selection ruined him, so I think he needs to do stuff to take the focus off her.
I think he could announce a few cabinet picks - particularly Treasury and maybe even Labor, since it's economy related. Maybe even his DOJ pick too, particularly if it is someone that will help him make the case that he's going to restore honor and order to that department after the mockery the Bush admin made of it.
If they are really good, smart people, that might restore people's faith in him after the Palin pick. It would show that he does have good judgment, despite his selection of Palin, and that he will have a strong team working with him.
I think he's switched the message too many times. If he would've stayed away from going so heavily on the attack over Ayers and socialism, this Syria thing could benefit him greatly because of the perception of his strength on military issues.
However, I don't think they have the luxury of switching talking points anymore. I think every time it happens, he looks less credible. If he starts playing up Syria, I think it'll be worse. His best bet is to stay with the admittedly twisted lie that Obama will be a socialist.
"As of page 2 this might be the most boring argument ever. It's making me long for Rape Day." - Mouse
I don't know if there's anything he can do after picking Palin for VP. It's a major blow to his credibility, judgement and is telling of what his priorities are.
However, I agree that dropping the personal attacks and using that bandwidth to address real issues couldn't hurt. We're at our house in PA this weekend and I got 4 different anti-obama postcards in the mail, all along the lines of... can you trust him?/ayers/etc. That's really a waste.
I kept rereading the title thinking, parisian hat, what is a parisian hat, take off my parisian hat. ?Oooooh, partisan. ?Der. ?Maybe reading about dyslexia in another window is making me have it.
I agree that the Palin pick caused irreperable damage for some. ?But, dropping any negativity and going on about issues is his only chance. ??
It's too late for McCain. Some of his mistakes are irreversible at this point (e.g. Palin).
But, he still should try to (a) not got down in flames but go down with dignity and (b) try not to destroy the entire GOP with him.
To do this he should: (1) Change the tenor of campaign to one of positivity, i.e. why McCain is best for America (not why Obama is worst) and (2) rally the troops in tough down-ticket Rep districts.
Realistically? I think his only real chance is to steal the election. Isn't that what we're all afraid of anyways? Besides that, probably the next best tactic would be to keep pounding on the socialist/communist thing. i don't think it will win it for him, but I think enough people are scared of that concept that he'll get a few more votes out of it.
Anything you can achieve through hard work, you could also just buy.
Negative ads work. There wouldn't be so damn many of them if this weren't the case. However I doubt there's much more that he can do in this regard, this late in the game. Short of Obama having some sort of Rielle Hunter love child, I'd be surprised if the electorate could be swayed.
Nothing. Honestly, I really don't see this happening. I have the same gut feeling when I watch a baseball game and I just know that the rival team's got it in the bag...that my team isn't going to make a comeback.