i didn't say that. this article by mort kondracke at realclearpolitics, which by the way is a terrific site that has the latest delegate counts and a collection of serious articles of the day, says that's what mccain is lacking.
i'll agree with that.
and it's a better option for trying to beat obama, certainly better than the underhanded tactics as of late. but obama has more than just a vision. he's got the leadership style to carry it out.
there's a lot of good stuff in this story. it highlights what mccain needs while at the same time highlights obama's strengths. there are some jabs at obama:
McCain hopes to show that Obama represents nothing but "an eloquent but empty call for change" and a return to liberal big government. He has every right to do so. Obama is short on accomplishments, especially of the bipartisan variety.but it's all of what's to come. read on:
While some polls show that Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is running even with Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) in general election matchups, the Republican has to be considered the underdog -- and will need a compelling positive vision for America to catch up.
McCain needs to advance a reformist-conservative alternative to Obama's "Yes, We Can" appeal -- perhaps updating his 2000 Theodore Roosevelt image -- and focus on the economy and health care as well as national security.
McCain said this week that if the Iraq War goes badly between now and November, "I lose," but it's not necessarily true that if Iraq goes well, he wins.
He ought to. On what used to be the most important issue in America, McCain was one of a bare handful of politicians, including Republicans, who believed America had to win the war and could.
If, this fall, the evidence shows he was correct, his Democratic opponent -- presumably Obama, but Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.), too -- ought to be discredited as a potential commander in chief for advocating withdrawal and losing the war, as they do even now.
Sadly, though, politics doesn't work that way. History is strewn with leaders cast aside after a war because their countrymen wanted to "move on." The list includes Winston Churchill and George H.W. Bush -- and this war is not likely to be as decisively won as theirs were.
The country already has "moved on," making the economy Issue One, followed by health care, energy, education and immigration.
McCain is going to have to play both offense and defense on the economy -- proving that he does not represent, as Obama charges, "George Bush's third term," and that Obama's tax increases will be disastrous for the economy and that his own economic vision will produce growth, opportunity and higher incomes for workers.
Right now, Americans don't believe in Republican economics, and McCain is especially vulnerable because he has flip-flopped on Bush's tax cuts, once declaring them gifts to the rich and now saying he wants to extend them.
McCain is going to have to teach economics to a doubting country -- and, first, he is going to have to learn some himself. He also might want to select a running mate who is an expert on the subject, say former Rep. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) or even his detested former rival, Mitt Romney.
rest at rcp
Obama’s speeches
Obama's legislative accomplishments
Obama’s mathematical delegate lead
what are presidential qualities?
Roosevelt was called inexperienced
