Why should anyone assume that John McCain is anymore "ready" or "able" to be President than Barack Obama? Finally, Jack Cafferty and Frank Rich are starting to ask this obvious question.
To my mind, this has been the great unstated assumption of McCain's attacks on Obama. He's celebrity who "isn't ready to lead" while McCain is the wise, experienced hand this country needs steering the ship of state in these troubled waters. With the convention providing Obama with a perfect opportunity to change the narrative, he needs to reframe the election. This is not a referendum on Obama, but a choice--Obama or McCain. McCain is relying on the assumption--in the media and the electorate at large--that he is a safe, default choice. The entire premise of his campaign is a negative one--Obama is not ready to lead but I am. Strip McCain of this aura of safety and reliability (which is nothing more than a myth fed by years of fawning, uncritical coverage by the MSM) and the entire rationale for his campaign collapses.
As many in the liberal blogosphere and elsewhere have noted, Obama also needs to re-inject Mr. 19% into the debate. And as Cafferty has made clear, Obama can do both at once--tie Bush around McCain like the anvil he is while simultaneously undermining the McCain campaign's entire premise--that only Huggy Bear is equipped to lead. Rove & the Swift Boaters taught us an important lesson--that attacking a candidate's perceived strength can be effective. Unlike them, however, Obama and the Democrats can do it in a way that is entirely honest and above-the-belt.
Imagine an ad that went something like this:
Open with a picture of W.
Voiceover: He finished near the bottom of his class, but soon made his way thanks to his family's wealth and insider connections. After the tragedy of 9/11, he rushed us into an unnecessary war while Al Qaeda rebuilt in Afghanistan. He favors policies that have crippled America's economy, leaving middle-class families vulnerable while showering tax cuts on the wealthy and favors on Big Oil.
Slowly fade to a picture of McCain
Voiceover: Even his fellow Republicans call him "erratic," "hotheaded" and say that “he doesn’t listen carefully to people and make reasoned judgments,” One Republican Senator even said, "the thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine."
Cut to picture of McCain hugging Bush.
Voiceover: Can America really afford four more years of this?
Eight years ago, this country (or at least five Supreme Court justices) made the mistake of putting an affable but incurious man in the White House instead of someone who was serious and thoughtful, but seen as "elitist." We all know how that turned out. Obama needs to drive home the point relentlessly--do we really want to make the same mistake again?