A Strategy for McCain

Tony Blankley suggests attacking Obama not "with a meat cleaver but with a surgeon's scalpel." I think this is right, as far as it goes, but it's missing some key tactical pieces.

As I mentioned before, they dynamics of this race suggest a fundamentally new way to debate your opponent and pin him down to whatever level of specificity you desire. You just ask public questions and demand answers. The MSM and blogosphere is sufficiently frenzied that it simply isn't possible for your opponent to dodge a pointed question. Furthermore, the answers will be dissected ad nauseam. As a tactic for exposing your opponent's areas of disingenuousness, it's unbeatable.

McCain is at a serious disadvantage when debating Obama. Obama is more articulate and appears sharper than McCain when speaking extemporaneously. By debating through the press and the blogosphere, McCain can neutralize that advantage. As a good military man, McCain knows that you win when you force your opponent to fight on the ground you chose. This is how McCain can do it.

Of course, this cuts both ways: Obama can expose the McCain's weak spots with the same tactic. But Obama can't use his oratorical advantage over McCain with this format.