This election isn't about four more years of Bush. This election is about four more years of Republicanism.
This is a short diary. Obama's effort to paint McCain as a Bush clone is spinning its wheels, when the potential power of that effort is buried in the message. This has allowed McCain to simply deny that he is not a Bush clone (e.g., maverick), and that he too will bring change like Obama. Polls show that McCain is benefitting from this opening.
The fact is, Obama should be campaigning against Republicanism.
If he begins to frame the argument that eight years of Republicanism has resulted in the predicament the country finds itself in, then it doesn't matter who the Republicans put up; it is Republicans who are to blame. All of them.
This simple adjustment in the lexicon will break through to independents who will see that whatever they may think about Obama--and it generally runs from interested to lukewarm---he is the only alternative to Republicanism. From here, the campaign can then emphasize the neo-con lobby's stranglehold over the Republican party which also explains McCain's 180's on previous positions, his lobby infested staff, and the choice of Sarah Palin.
If Obama has one fault it is that he is trying to pull the dark knight off the horse. Victorious warriors know that you bring down the horse first, then slay its rider.
Bottom line. Drop Bush from the rhetoric. Drop McCain from the rhetoric. It's Republicanism, smug, elite, greedy, uncaring and reckless that our country needs to defeat.