McCain's new strategy

"For those of you who are feeling giddy or cocky or think this is all set," Obama said at a fundraiser at Manhattan's Metropolitan Club earlier this week, "I just have two words for you: New Hampshire."

Clearly, Obama acknowledges that this race is far from over. Despite the poll numbers in Obama's favor, the fundraising dollars he's acquired , and the fact that he won all three debates, there are still 2 weeks left that could change the course of the race. And with the right strategy, the McCain/Palin ticket could still pull ahead. As the readings explained, the Republicans hold a huge sway over white voters, southern voters (particularly southern women), religious voters, wealthy voters, and rural voters. It's important for McCain to understand this and focus his campaign to these influential groups of people.

To do this, McCain will have to dramatically change his own strategy. Thus far, he's had Palin do most of the dirty work in terms of reaching out to women and religious voters. Note this article, which shows Palin pandering to women voters while backed by former Clinton supporters, and this article transcripting a recent interview between Palin and a Christian leader. Because it's out of the question to replace Palin as his running mate, I think McCain really needs to take some of that responsibility into his own hands. He's spent so much time and energy on vicious attack ads that he hasn't painted a clear picture of his policy views. He needs to scale back the attacks, eliminate the robocalls, and instead hammer into the American people how he will change Washington with crystal clear plans and goals. And he needs to start reaching out to these voters himself, because when people go out to vote, they vote for the top of the ticket -- not the running mate. And if voters are turned off by McCain's constant attacks, I don't think Palin will be enough to sway their vote. Palin should stick to her rallies, which are drawing increasingly large crowds, and stay away from media interviews where she's failed miserably.