Don't Campaign Against McCain

That Barack Obama and John McCain are near even in the polls should make it clear to Democratic strategists that they won't beat McCain by trying to brand him as Bush.

That's probably because he's not Bush and people realize this. 

Brad Delong points out a better strategy: focus on the Party, not the Candidate. 

Republicans had ideological majorities in Congress from 1981 through 2006 (at least). Republicans held the presidency for all except the eight Clinton years. The policies proposed by the executive, enacted by the legislature, and implemented by the courts over the past generation are Republican policies.

That's a very simple message. You might call it "Republicans got us into this mess. We're the guys who created 22.4M new jobs and balanced the budget."

BDL suggests a cartoon:

Bald Pates, Frowns

You know you messed up when $5 trillion can’t buy you out of trouble.

The government officials said that the administration had also considered calling for legislation that would offer an explicit government guarantee on the $5 trillion of debt owned or guaranteed by the companies. But that is a far less attractive option, they said, because it would effectively double the size of the public debt. The officials also said that such a step would be ineffective because the markets already widely accept that the government stands behind the companies.

(…)

The companies are by far the biggest providers of financing for domestic home loans. If they are unable to borrow, they will not be able to buy mortgages from commercial lenders. In turn, that would make it more expensive and difficult, if not impossible, for home buyers to obtain credit, freezing the United States housing market.

NY Times

Truth-o-Gramm

"When I said we've become a nation of whiners, I'm talking about our leaders. I'm not talking about our people," Gramm said. "We've got every kind of excuse in the world about oil prices -- we've got speculators, the oil companies to blame -- but too many people don't have a program to get on with a job of producing. If you listen to our leaders, we can't compete against Mexico, for God's sake. If they don't think we can compete against Mexico who can we compete against?"

DFS

WashPost

Atlanta Journal Constitution reports "'Men at Work' Signs to Disappear."

No shit.

Full story here.

Nicht ein Berliner

"German Chancellor Angela Merkel slammed a request by Barack Obama to give a speech this month before the Brandenburg Gate as "inappropriate", her deputy spokesman said Wednesday."

A tough call for Merkel, given that "72 percent of Germans back Obama to become the next US leader."

McCain's secret "16-Länder Strategy": Hasselhoff as VP.

Then and now.

Full story here.