How McCain Can Turn This Thing Around

The polls are trending towards Obama, the battleground states are starting to settle in his favor, and a growing number of pundits are predicting an Obama win. John McCain's prospects look grim. While he performed strong in the first debate, he just can not seem convince voters he is their man when it comes to the economy. 

Obama is now ahead in voter trust when it comes to the economy, and with the economy front and center at the moment, and likely for the rest of the campaign, he will likely remain ahead in the polls until election day. Holding the margins he does now, it would be an Obama landslide, with 300+ electoral votes in his column.

All is not lost for McCain though, he still has a crack at this thing. His campaign needs to switch gears though, and do it quickly. First, Sarah Palin must perform exceedingly well at the Vice Presidential debate on Thursday. Sarah Palin is very likeable and viewed favorably by voters, a gaffe free and positive debate will go a long way in reviving McCain's stumbling campaign. 

The second thing he needs to do is own this issue of the bailout. He should immediately begin criticising the taxpayer bailout, and while he is at it, he should also criticize president Bush, as it is his plan. McCain can make this issue work for him, he should emphasize how he supports loans and insurance for the companies, and not a blank check.

McCain also needs to sell this bill differently. He should begin emphasizing that this bill bails out Main Street, not Wall Street. This is because many of those small businesses on Main Street, are barrowing money from those banks on Wall Street so they can make payroll, and fund their day to day operations. 

Only 30% of Americans support the bailout, if McCain can show voters his vision for the bill, and prove to them that action is absolutely necessary, then he can make this bill more popular. He can then take a large chunk of due credit, and restore voter faith in his ability to run the economy. He better hurry though, only 35 days left.