Last Friday, in the first 2008 presidential race debate, McCain wiped the floor with Obama on the “National Security” issue. He set up traps like an expert bear hunter and Obama walked right into all of them. Obama couldn’t answer anything without appearing to be a flip-flopper, soft on defense or critical of the military. It’s the same thing that destroyed Kerry in 2004.

Obama may have better represented the readers and the writer of this post, but he has to grab voters from the other side now. He’s got to use his long arms and reach for the middle of America’s political soul and say, “I am here for you too!”

Obama, however, did win handily on the economy (which made a surprisingly limited appearance in the debate). Is this election going to be a referendum on the economy or on the war??? Republicans will attempt to make it about the issue they are stronger in and vice versa…

Now that Palin has a terminal case of foot-in-mouth disease (the simple act of opening her mouth magnetically attracts her foot) and seems to be out of the equation, McCain’s new job is to convince America that he can do the whole job himself…a requisite that is fully expected of the top name on the ticket anyway.

Obama, on the other hand, now has to emphasize that his ticket is the only one that’s well-rounded, and that the sum of Obama and Biden is greater than its parts, and also greater than McCain (plus the negative value of Palin)…