Thirty-two times.
That's how many times the presumptive Republican nominee used the word "change" in his speech (twenty-two before he was interrupted to announce Obama had passed the delegate threshold). Many of those instances were in the context of voicing Obama's catch-phrase: Change You Can Believe In. Whatever else we see in the months ahead, this will be remembered as one of the worst political speeches in recent memory.
Repeating your opponent's message--even to denounce it--is political suicide. People do not vote for someone who's message is "I don't like what that guy says." Candidates who define the debate, and the terms of it, are candidates who win elections.
That is why Barack Obama will win in November. Of course it helps that Obama's brand is ten times stronger than McCain's and that his oratory skills dwarf those of the Arizona Senator.
In the end, McCain's defeat will come mostly because he's playing Obama's game, by Obama's rules. It will be like Tommy Lee Jones trying to keep up with Jim Carrey in "Batman Forever." Like Pepsi trying to chip away at Coke's market. Like the makers of Splenda, Nutrasweet, and Sweet-n-low selling you something kinda like sugar.
It will be like Herbert Hoover trying to keep up with Roosevelt.
Look at the green (Irish?) background behind McCain in his address tonight. It reads "A Leader We Can Believe In." If this is the best his handlers and thinktankers can come up with, the election--assuming we count all the ballots--is already over.
[CROSS-POSTED AT MYDD.COM]