Dr. Red Eye

As you’ve probably been hammered with by the media in recent weeks, Republican presidential candidate John McCain is trailing Democratic counterpart Barack Obama in the polls. And according to the Yahoo Political Dashboard, Obama also is projected to have the more important electoral college vote easily locked up.

With 20 days remaining, is an Obama victory a foregone conclusion? Should McCain-Palin just pack up and quit now?

While McCain has had to fight a tremendous uphill battle with the media swooning at Obama’s feet and Obama raising ridiculous amounts of cash for his operations, I must admit McCain also hasn’t run a very smart campaign.

So I have some unsolicited advice for McCain on how he can turn around this election and pull off a comeback victory (assuming the polls are accurate), starting with Wednesday’s debate, the last of three debates between McCain and Obama. This debate is critical and the detail below is all developed with the debate in mind. Nevertheless, it can also be applied in the remaining days to come.

I may not be a professional campaign manager but I am an analyst, so here goes…

1. Aggressively attack Obama’s key weaknesses rather than promote McCain’s strengths.

With Obama’s lead in the polls allegedly growing, it is no longer enough for McCain to simply state what he would do as president. Swing voters will hear that and then wonder how that message compares to Obama’s message. If they do that comparison themselves, they’ll likely be fed liberal media spin that will negate McCain’s message.

Here’s an excellent example: McCain in the past couple days has touted his new economic recovery plan. But he was silent on what Obama’s economic recovery plan was. Thus, swing voters didn’t know whether McCain’s new plan is better or worse than Obama’s. Sure enough, it didn’t take long for the media to write off McCain’s plan as “desperate”. Think McCain’s plan will get much traction in the marketplace of undecided voters’ minds? But if McCain presented his plan and concurrently attacked Obama’s plan, then people would immediately get a first impression that Obama’s plan is worse. So if voters later read media articles criticizing McCain’s plan, there is a decent chance it will be dismissed because they’ll remember that “Obama’s plan was worse.”

So it is imperative that McCain do the comparison for these voters and clearly articulate why Obama is unworthy.

Of course, the comparison must be truthful because deception will make McCain look untrustworthy himself. But truth won’t be a problem with all the factual ammunition at your disposal.

What “key weaknesses” should McCain zero in on? I’ll get to that in a minute. But for now, the #1 priority is to prove Obama’s unworthiness more than state your own worthiness.

2. Use snappy soundbite summaries of Obama’s key weaknesses.

In a YouTube, attention-deficit, soundbite-driven media culture, swing voters need a snappy soundbite summary of Obama’s key weaknesses for several reasons.

First, such witty taglines will get a lot of media airplay, especially if delivered during a debate but also when they’re repeated consistently over the next 20 days. When asked about his old age, who can forget Reagan’s classic jab “I won’t hold my opponent’s inexperience against him” at Mondale in 1984?

Second, such soundbites will linger in swing voters’ minds even when they forget all the details…all the way to the ballot box.

What soundbites should McCain use? I have some suggestions later in this post.

3. Refute Obama’s claims immediately.

Obama and Biden both make claims about McCain that have gone unanswered. The most effective claim that Obama has used is that McCain is a continuation of the past 8 years. The most effective claim that Biden has used is that McCain is not the maverick that he is portrayed to be. Both of those claims can easily be refuted, yet McCain has inexplicably gone silent, lending credence to those claims and damaging his position with swing voters.

It is essential that McCain refute these attacks immediately when raised, as they are certain to be during tonight’s debate. I see McCain take notes in past debates when he is attacked but then he never addresses them, even in a future debate. So what is the note-taking for? Any debater will tell you that if you cannot respond to an opponent’s statement, then it gives the appearance of agreement. McCain must not remain silent while being criticized. Personally, I feel McCain looks defeated while Obama levels charges that McCain was wrong on Iraq and McCain sat there silently, absorbing the blows without rebuttal.

McCain needs to firmly parry these attacks and display calm confidence while dismissing the charges. And he should use some of those soundbites while he’s at it.

OK, so that’s Dr. Red Eye’s overall campaign strategy overhaul proposal, starting with tonight’s third debate.

But let’s get specific. What were Obama’s key weaknesses to target and the snappy soundbites that I referred to earlier? Here they are…

1. Obama’s economic plan is bankrupt.

Both in debates and on the campaign trail, Obama has been quick to criticize and quick to promise he’d fix the problem but slow to provide any details. Since the economy is front and center on many voters’ minds, and since polls show people believe Obama is more able to fix the economy, this issue must be priority #1 for McCain.

McCain must drill home the point, over and over and over, that Obama’s economic plan is bankrupt. McCain must make voters think twice before they automatically assume Obama’s plan is better than his.

How can he do this? Two ways.

First, McCain must have a snappy soundbite summary of his Obama economic critique so it gets media airplay, esp. in debate reviews. Anything that takes longer than five seconds to summarize won’t get any media attention. My suggestion: “Senator Obama, your economic plan needs a major bailout.”

Second, McCain must give details on why Obama’s “economic plan needs a major bailout.” Provide as much detail as possible, which gives the impression that McCain has closely studied Obama’s plan. Put Obama on the defensive, which is so critical in a televised debate.

Without hammering Obama repeatedly on the need for bailing out his economic plan, McCain stands little chance to regain momentum.

2. Obama has no clue on foreign policy.

Obama’s claim to fame is his disapproval of going into war with Iraq. McCain must attack that popular mantra. Obama was not a U.S. Senator at the time so he was not privvy to the intelligence reports that the U.S. Congress were. McCain must hammer home the point that had Obama seen the reports, he may have acted differently. Of course, Obama will reject that notion but the fact is we have no way of knowing for sure. As long as McCain dismisses Obama’s claim as outsider ignorance, he’ll keep Obama on the defensive rather than the offensive.

Furthermore, McCain must attack Obama’s current inability to properly handle the existing Iraq war. Although we should not have invaded Iraq, the reality is that we are now in Iraq and it would be not only a surrender to withdraw immediately but also irresponsible to the fledgling Iraqi government and its people. Remind people how Obama deeply miscalculated on the troop surge. Question his judgment on whether he is miscalculating pulling out of Iraq. And make the case that Obama’s poor judgment precludes him from being commander-in-chief. As a bonus, ask Obama what he plans to do if al-Qaeda sets up shop in Iraq after the U.S. withdraws from that fragile nation prematurely.

In addition, McCain must revive the issue of the foolishness of the “Obama Doctrine” (meeting with leaders of rogue nations without preconditions). Using the Dr. Red Eye-coined phrase “Obama Doctrine” would be another instant soundbite that would get plenty of media mileage. Remind voters that Obama’s own vice presidential pick Joe Biden disagrees with Obama on the “Obama Doctrine”, as well as practically every other experienced politician in the country, from Hillary Clinton to, yes, Henry Kissinger. Ask voters if they trust a man with this inexperience to handle foreign affairs in a delicate time like today.

Moreover, McCain must remind voters that Obama is not this agent of peace that they think he is. Although Obama has pledged withdrawing troops from Iraq, he won’t be sending those soldiers home, as most voters probably assume he will. Rather, Obama will simply re-route them to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Lastly, McCain must remind voters that Obama was indecisive and lukewarm in his response to Russian aggression against Georgia. Mention “revisionist history” if Obama tries to defend his remarks as forceful. Ask voters, “Is this rookie politician the type of leader we want on the world stage?”

Of course, this foreign policy part of the strategy will require a snappy soundbite summary as well. Dr. Red Eye suggests: “With all due respect, Senator, when it comes to foreign policy fantasies, leave the fairy tales for the kids.”

3. Obama’s judgment is dangerous.

While Obama has finally spoken up about ACORN by declaring that he “doesn’t need them” now, he still dodged answering about his relationship with the fraudulent left-wing organization and why he had to lie about it over and over.

This is low-hanging fruit for McCain. Obama’s lack of forthrightness about his involvement with ACORN belies his other shady associations in the past. Whether it’s endorsing machine politician Todd Stroger or unscrupulous treasurer Alexi Giannoulias, or being mentored by hate-mongering Rev. Jeremiah Wright for 20 years and hate-mongering Rev. Michael Pfleger for a similarly long time, or befriending convicted felon Tony Reszko, or seeking political benefit as a grown man with unrepentant terrorist William Ayers, Obama has a long history of poor judgment and inappropriate relationships.

McCain must bring them all up, not to dwell at length about any particular person, but to quickly recap the long list of highly questionable associations. Of course, Obama will try to deny some of the accusations, but keep attacking. Make sure voters feel a sense of distrust in Obama’s judgment. Keep Obama on the defensive.

Unfortunately, McCain may not mention Wright in tonight’s debate, which is rather unfathomable. But even if McCain doesn’t want to go into detail about Obama’s relationship with Wright, he must at least mention him in passing as part of a long-running series of mistakes in Obama’s judgment.

Then conclude by borrowing Obama’s war tagline against him as your own snappy soundbite summary on this issue: “When it comes to bad judgment with Senator Obama, there’s no end in sight!”

4. Obama is extreme on abortion.

Although social issues are lower on the scale for undecided voters, Obama’s stance on such procedures as the cruel partial-birth abortions should cause those voters to think twice about Obama. While he has this image of a clean-cut family man, this other side of Obama …his heartlessness and lack of compassion for the innocent, defenseless babies who are barbarically murdered… must be raised to counter that image. It is unfathomable that a man as extreme as Obama has escaped relatively unnoticed on this issue during this campaign (aside from conservative blogs).

And every time Obama mentions “women’s right to choose” or defending Roe v. Wade, respond with “I don’t believe killing babies should be a choice” and “why defend something that kills innocent babies?” If Obama instead mentions cases of “saving a mother’s life”, mention how partial-birth abortions are never, ever done as a medical necessity to save a mother’s life.

No need for snappy soundbites here; just use the words “cruel”, “cold-blooded” and such synonyms while describing the partial-birth abortion process in all its gory but unfortunately truthful detail. If undecided voters can listen to that and still vote for Obama, then there’s not much else you can do.

As an overall strategy, keep those soundbites at the ready whenever the opportunity presents itself. “Keep the change”, “The audacity of hype”, and “Your own bridge to nowhere” will demand media airplay while the details will put the substance behind the style.

So I’ve outlined my campaign strategy overhaul for McCain to turn around this election, and I’ve listed four key issues to target and how to target them. What McCain chooses to do is up to him.