I’ve been harping on and on—mainly here and here—about the need for the Obama campaign to step up, ditch the supposed high road and attack McCain forcefully. Well, guess what? Not only is the McCain camp gone negative in overdrive with lame TV ads, filled with flat-out lies, unsubstantiated “facts”, race baiting and misinformation, but for the first time, the candidates are now tied in the polls. Yes, they are. You would think that Mr. 100 Years in Iraq-S&L scandal participant-loyal Bushie-flip-flopping, Grandpa Simpson, hypocrite would be at least 15-20 points behind Obama. But, no. They’re, in fact, tied. (Oh, by the way, keep this little tidbit in mind: tomorrow is the 4th anniversary of the beginning of John Kerry’s “swift boating”.)
Man, I’ve been saying that they were close in the polls because of the folks who could never bring themselves to vote for a black man, no matter how closely identified with the failed policies of the corrupt and inept Bush administration McCain happened to be. But now, part of me suspects this all might mean that there is a large contingent of people that actually think George Bush has put this country on the right path and want McCain to follow the “Bush doctrine”. Either that or this is just the usual instance of the Democrats not being able to get sell their goods, despite having the better product. (Don't discount people being uninformed at best; idiots at worst.)
There’s no guarantee that a sharp and direct attack against McCain will yield the desired dividends in November. But if the Obama camp does not drop this silly pretense of staying above the fray, he will lose for sure. That, is pretty much certain.
