Obama is making a strategic blunder in going on offense instead of playing defense in response to McCain’s attacks. The fact is Obama will win this election if he convinces Americans he is a reasonable alternative. Polling suggests Democrats will expand their majorities in the House and Senate. Obama has not only been consistently ahead in the polls, but political indicators suggest he will win a decisive victory.
For McCain to win, and I believe he will, McCain needs to convince Americans that Obama is not a reasonable alternative. It helps that Obama’s political strategists are letting these attacks distract them from what they need to do, which is convince voters that in spite of their candidate’s inexperience and liberal voting record, Obama is ready to lead. These operatives remember John Kerry failing to respond rapidly to the swift boat ads, and they think their candidate needs to start attacking McCain. Unlike Kerry, however, Obama is not running against an incumbent. He is the default choice in this election, and he is playing into the hands of Republicans when he’s wasting his own time trying tie McCain to Bush.
