First, a hilarious observation.
For a little election nostagia, drive west on Buchanan Avenue in Lancaster city and look for a white sign to the right. It’s no illusion. It says “Vote Nixon/Agnew.”
And the top song of 1968, when Maryland Gov. Spiro Agnew joined Richard Nixon at the top of the Republican ticket? Press play below.
Na naaa nananana nanananaaa Hey Jude!
Now, on with the rest of the show.
Tomorrow’s column is going to look at how Republican John McCain is about to pivot the narrative of his campaign for the umpteenth time. After a three week span when the nation’s economy dominated the news, independents and other swing voters began shifting toward Democrat Barack Obama, allowing Obama to pad leads in critical swing states like Pennsylvania. Many agree now McCain is facing third and long, and he time’s running out to score the winning touchdown. This race isn’t in the final turn, but it’s entering it at this moment.
Americans love a comeback story; it’s the only way to explain why Britney Spears is permitted back into a recording studio. Start counting the number of times McCain and his surrogates use the term “underdog” in the coming weeks.
And as suggested in a previous post, one way to start chipping away at Obama’s lead is to put him back on the defensive the way he was during the end of the summer. To do that, McCain needs a few surrogates willing to start talking tough about Obama, tying him to Bill Ayers and calling him an unprepared celebrity. And guess what’s starting to dominate the news? McCain needs to stay above the mudslinging, otherwise he’ll come across as desperate, but if he’s truly to be a comeback kid, he needs something to shift the focus off the economy and back to a defensive Obama.
