It’s not often I find two editorials right next to each other that seem so right on in there advice to Obama and McCain, but today’s WSJ provided the good stuff.
Karl Rove, of all people, had the advice for Obama – He should focus on selling himself, not attacking McCain. While I’m sure he should spend some of his buckets of cash on bashing McCain (it’s only fair that he does his share of mudslinging), I think he would gain greatly if he would just help us envision what an Obama presidency would look like. Right now, the only change I imagine under Obama is that the government will get even bigger and more bloated, my taxes will go up and we will get to listen to someone articulate in the Whitehouse. If he was smart, he would call the Bush tax cuts a tax on our children. He should say we have a moral responsiblity to balance our budgets. He should get businesses on his side to fix health care – it’s a matter of international competition. If our companies bear the burden here and governments do it elsewhere it makes it hard to compete. He should stop with the platitudes and give us something concrete. And he should stop with the no opinion bs on things like AIG bailout, it makes him look weak. He needs to make me believe he would be a good, solid president, not just some well spoken guy in a suit.
On the McCain front, DAniel Henninger had an excellent article titled Will McCain Waste Palin. He argues that McCain should take his reform concept and run with it for all he’s worth. I could not agree more. 
Washington is a sea self dealing, envelope stretching, loophole maneuvering BS. At the end of his convention speach he said he would fight and asked people to join his fight. So far, his words about reform feel like platitudes, aside from his I will veto earmarks comments. He should get specific. Go for the line item veto. Attack the stupidity of our farm and corn based ethanol subsidies, the no bid contracts, and the un-real bailouts of the rich, but stupid banks. We’re all pissed at Washington. He should put some themes into his reform positioning that make it real, make it relatable and make it feel like the revolutinary change we need.
Whoever does a better job with the advice above is likely to win IMO.
My name is Alex Nesbitt. This is my blog. I publish 
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Taxes going up? Congratulations on making more than $250 K a year. As Joe Biden reminds us, for wealthy people, paying more taxes is the patriotic thing to do.
BTW… listening to someone articulate in the White House is reason enough to vote for Obama.
Have you looked at http://www.barackobama.com/plan
The issue isn’t what he has on some blog, the vast majority of people don’t read those things. (BTW here’s a another good summary of their positions.)
The issue is what he’s talking about. He should be winning this by 20 points, but all we hear is the laundry list of recycled demo platform and talk about JM. He needs to be personally communicating a vision of what it would be like if he’s president. Give people a real reason to vote for him, other than he’s not a republican.
On the issue of taxes, I’ve had the pleasure of paying my fair share and then some. Obama doesn’t plan to tax the wealthy. Really wealthy people don’t have to earn a living, they’ve already got their money. He just wants to tax the people who are working to get ahead.
Also, explain to me how paying more taxes is patriotic. Wouldn’t it be more patriotic to use the money to create more good private sector jobs than to expand an overly bloated and ineffective government.
BTW I’ve never voted for a rep for president, but if Obama can’t stand up for something other than change means implementing the party line of democratic party that seems to have completely lost it’s way, then I’m going to vote of McCain and I’m sure lots of others will too.