Cheeblogger!

How can McCain possibly win the Presidency in the current climate of anti-Bushism and with the media transfixed on Barak Obama?

Follow up:

If he has to battle Obama toe-to-toe, issue-by-issue, charisma-for-charisma, the moderates in the electorate will flock like rubber duckies flowing down a swift river to Obama almost by default.

I have the answer that I pray makes it to the conventional wisdom in the McCain campaign. This strategy can provide him victory this year.

Obama has been successful thus far by running, essentially more against President Bush than against McCain. McCain should learn from this.

It is going to be an uphill battle for McCain to battle Obama toe-to-toe on all of the superficial levels upon which many moderates make their voting decisions. Moreover, Obama (in the minds of moderates) successfully counters the experience argument by arguing for "change".

So, what to do? Simple. Stop running against Obama as a theme and start running against the extremes of Congress as the primary cause of his presidency.

The current trend shows that, at the least, the Democrats will gain seats in both houses. They may even approach veto majorities in both houses. At the same time, however, Congressional approval rating is at an all time low. McCain should use this dynamic to his advantage.

He must run as a moderate voice protecting the center and the right against the excesses of a Democrat Congress that is about to explode with liberal and socialist policies the likes of which we've never seen.

A President McCain will be the sieve that only lets reasonable legislation see the light of day.

He should also hasten to assert that not only would he be the check and balance of the next Congress, but also that avoiding a "rubber stamp" in the White house makes our votes for him, in and of themselves, a check and balance on the federal government.

Like the skillful General's of old, McCain should fight this battle on a geography, place, and time that is best suited for victory.

Many, including Rush Limbaugh, say this election is about Obama, aye or nay. McCain and his people should argue vigorously; no, this election is about holding an extreme congress in check. He has proven he will work with the other side so no-one can make the case that he is proposing gridlock.

He must indicate that he will work to defeat the most extreme measures they force down our throats while working with them on common sense legislation. McCain must also rigorously assert that it will be profoundly risky to elect Obama not because he is black or young or comes from liberation theology, but simply because he is a Democrat.

I believe moderates across America will find this posture very very appealing and he could really turn the tables on Obama using this strategy.

In addition, once he takes office, he should draw a line in the sand in his inaugural address warning against the excesses of congress by reminding them they HE also was elected and they should not claim a mandate just because they now have more dominant majorities.

If McCain's biggest problem is Bush then Obama's biggest problem is the next Congress. The problem for voters and Obama is that the next Congress will be around for the next two years and Bush will not.

This argument must be made. It must be made not only by the McCain campaign, but also the RNC and all other related PAKs and 527s.

The best part of this case for a McCain presidency is that cannot be rhetorically countered by Obama in a sound byte because it is an immutable and self-evident fact.

Some cynics will say he is throwing the NRCC under the bus, but McCain will not be proposing heavy Democrat majorities in Congress but only dealing with what are the realistic expectations of both Republicans and Democrats.

This is the only argument that can work in this time of a vast, largely un-informed, moderate electorate.