Slate has a must-read assessment of John McCain’s gambit:
McCain needed to do something. He is slipping in the polls both nationally and in the battleground states. He’s playing on Obama’s turf in his effort to sell himself both as a change agent and as a steward of the economy. When voters are asked which candidate represents change, Obama beats McCain by more than 30 percentage points. When they’re asked which candidate they trust to handle the economy, he beats McCain almost as handily. Plus, congressional Democrats were making mischief, arguing that unless McCain joined in supporting the package it would fail.
What was a candidate to do in that instance? Issue a press release? Come up with a better 10-point plan? (An 11-point plan?) Chanting “Drill, baby, drill” won’t help. McCain’s argument is that he represents something other than politics as usual, and this gambit certainly isn’t usual. (Though I was reminded of Bob Dole’s effort to shake up his 1996 campaign by stepping down from the Senate. There just aren’t that many things a presidential candidate can do that suggest boldness.)
