McCain’s step-by-step anti-Obama strategy

By: Steve Benen
from Crooks and Liars
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008

Time magazine’s Mark Halperin offered an interesting list today: a 16-point guide on what, in Halperin’s opinion, John McCain’s campaign can do to tear Barack Obama down. As Halperin sees it, McCain’s campaign is “staffed with savvy, experienced operatives who have closely watched the rise of Obama, and they have learned from Clinton’s failure to take down her Democratic rival.”

So, what’s the game plan? Here’s Halperin’s list, including attacks to be levied by McCain, McCain’s campaign, and attack dogs working on McCain’s behalf. Some of my favorites:

1. Play the national security card without hesitation.

That would probably be easier if McCain had an effective national security strategy — beyond “go get ‘em” — and hadn’t been wrong about Iraq in every possible way for nearly six years.

2. Talk about the Iraq War without apologies or perceived contradiction.

Too late, McCain is already contradicting himself, claiming he opposed Rumsfeld (he didn’t), opposed “stay the course” (he didn’t), called for Rumsfeld’s resignation (he hadn’t), and insisting he warned Americans from the start how difficult the war would be (he hadn’t).

(Continued here.)