Dear Barack:
The race is now a dead heat. The Republicans have gone mad dog, the press is a bullhorn, and the policy differences between you and McCain get lost in the process. You now have an opportunity to make those differences plain.
I implore you not to regurgitate your aspirational stump speech bromides in your Big Speech. You've got one chance - with everybody watching - to punch this guy in the gut. Please, for the love of democracy, include some of this:
"Much has been made of my opponent's wealth. There are people out there saying that you shouldn't vote for John McCain because he owns seven homes and because he abandoned his first wife and children for a wealthy heiress. But that's ridiculous. The dangers in voting for John McCain are his policies. To summarize:
1. He wants to provide tax cuts for millionaires
Let me repeat that, so there's no confusion: he wants to provide tax cuts for millionaires. Unless you're a millionaire, or you married one, you should find this distressing. A few years back, John McCain told the American people he couldn't support President Bush's tax cuts for millionaires. He called them irresponsible. But when the election came, he sold working Americans out. He sided with Bush/Cheney.
2. His judgment on Iraq has been wrong - over and over
John McCain supported the surge. How can this come as a surprise? He's supported President Bush every step of the way with Iraq. He is President Bush's biggest cheerleader on the war. He went on TV to assure Americans that the war in Iraq would be over in a few months. He even assured us the war was over, after President Bush staged his Mission Accomplished photo op.
That's the kind of judgment John McCain has shown on Iraq. He can try to play the attack dog now, but he's always been a Bush/Cheney lapdog on the war. The American people are tired of this costly misadventure. They don't want it turned into a Republican pride drama. They want it ended, with honor, so we can bring our troops home and get our economy working again.
3. He's sold his soul to Karl Rove
Ask yourself, right now, how John McCain hopes to govern. What are his policies? About the only thing most Americans know about his policies is that he wants to drill through his own $500 loafers for oil. The rest of his campaign has been about attacking me.
Why does the Original Maverick have so little to say on his own behalf? Because he knows he can't win on the issues, so he's hoping attack ads will be enough to get him elected, just like Bush and Cheney. He's sold his soul to Karl Rove.
If we, as a nation, elect politicians who care only about winning, not governing, who offer smears rather than solutions, then we deserve another four years of Bush. Based on the campaign he's running, John McCain will deliver that. So every time you fall for one of his attack ads, just remember what you're really supporting: four more years of George W. Bush."
Obviously, I hope you'll set out your own policies, and I trust your eloquence to make the case compelling. But if you don't dig deep into your own moral outrage - an outrage shared by 72 percent of the population - it's going to be déjà vu all over again.
Technically begging at this point,
Steve
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