John McCain was much, much stronger in last night’s debate — attacking Barack Obama whenever opportunities arose. But the cracks and the strain were visible and it’s hard to argue that he landed a knockout punch.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, McCain faces two nasty headwinds, strategic problems that usually plague Democratic presidential candidates.<\/p>\n
1. The Image Problem.<\/p>\n
Democrats are typically the stiff ones, the awkward ones. Think Michael Dukakis in the tank helmet or John Kerry saluting at the Democratic National Convention.<\/p>\n
But this year, John McCain is the one who suffers from a pantheon of visual and verbal tics that diffuse his message.<\/p>\n
The “my friends”-style rhetorical phrases, the tongue-bites, the blinking, the nervous grins — Republicans haven’t had such an awkward performer since Richard Nixon.<\/p>\n
In other contexts, Barack Obama’s unflappable style might look cold or elitist. But this year, he just looks steadier and more at ease. One might almost say more Presidential.<\/p>\n
This kind of thing drives wonks like me crazy.<\/p>\n
We want voters to think about issues, not TV style points. But the reality is that humans are influenced in their decisions by a wide array of subtle visual clues.<\/p>\n
2. Money.<\/p>\n
In last night’s debate, John McCain tried to make Barack Obama’s vast money-advantage a campaign issue.<\/p>\n
But the fact is that Republicans usually enter presidential campaigns with a massive money advantage. An avalanche of GOP cash helped to bury Al Gore and John Kerry.<\/p>\n
Last night’s debate was freighted with importance in part because McCain doesn’t have a war chest big enough to flood the airwaves with campaign ads in the final weeks.<\/p>\n
On the contrary. The Obama campaign is reportedly trying to buy 1\/2 hour TV blocks on all the major networks for a massive P-R blitz.<\/p>\n
Conclusion? John McCain’s road to the White House is a lot harder and steeper today than it was yesterday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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