Are you better off today than you were 8 years ago? This was the question Bill Clinton posed over and over in his upset election and it became a mantra in people's mind. Barack Obama needs to revive it again. Because right now, our candidates and their supporters are drifting, diffuse, defensive, and petty policy wonking (witness the main diary all about Palin's expenses as governor---most people don't care about this.)
Twenty percent of women have shifted sides. Guess what. You can get them back.
Women care about pocket book issues. Boil it down to the basics. Somehow McCain has got people thinking Obama is going to take money out of their pockets to pay for all this stuff he's talking about...and indeed Obama does sound like a defensive policy wonk, not a straight-talking candidate. I want them to stop talking about Bush and policy details and Palin. Start framing policy in questions for people to ask themselves. Are you better off today than you were 8 years ago? Have your health care costs gone down or up the past 8 years? Stop talking about change for change sake.
People don't want to hear about Bush. They're tired of him and even McCain is tired of him. Change needs to be personalized. Are you better off than you were 8 years ago? People want this election to be about themselves.