Tactical Suggestion: Go Right At McCain--Attack Him For Dishonesty and Flip-Flopping

I've said part of this before, but:

I think the Obama campaign has to avoid the urge to lash out at McCain with cute or tricky attempts to win this skirmish quickly. For one thing, Democrats just can't get away with the kinds of things Republicans can get away with. If any Dem had lied as outrageously about a Republican as McCain has lied about Obama, they'd be doomed. But more importantly: we can't descend to their level.

So the thing to do is go right at McCain's dishonesty. Among the advantages of this approach: it combines attack and defense. To clearly and forcefully assert that McCain is lying about e.g. Obama's views about sex education is to take a step toward both (a) defusing the attack and (b) establishing the truth of the claim that McCain is a liar.

Furthermore, I think they should identify McCain as a flip-flopper. It is, after all, true--he used to advocate civility in campaigning, now he's evil, he voted with Bush 90% of the time, but cynically and hypocritically adopted the change theme as soon as he saw it was a winning strategy. And so forth. And the flip-flopper charge is notoriously effective.

Also: since McCain has demonstrated a willingness to do anything to win, he himself will make such charges against Obama--despite their falsehood--if he thinks they'll work. And if McCain makes such charges first, it won't sound terribly plausible for Obama to say "you too!"

If I were making an Obama commercial, I'd get him to look right into the camera and just talk about what's going on. Something like: "John McCain has acted admirably in the past, but he is not acting honorably now. He is lying. Lying about my record, lying about his record, and lying about my positions on issues. These Bush-Rove-McCain-style poltics are destroying our country. We need to recognize that not everyone who disagrees with us is a monster, and recognize that we can disagree about policy without engaging in the politics of personal destruction. Despite Senator McCain's repeated bizarre lies about my positions, I've tried to keep my temper and avoid personal attacks against him. But the things he is saying about me are not true. Now, I could simply ignore the lies and allow myself to be Swift boated, but then he would probably win the election, and we'd have four or eight more years of the same divisive Bush-style politics. I could, of course, make up some lies about him--but I won't do that. Therefore, the only course open to me is to be straight with you about what John McCain is doing. He is lying. He should not be rewarded for that with the Presidency. I hope you, the American people, will say that enough is enough, and repudiate these lies and the politics of personal destruction. I hope that you will give me your vote on November 4th."