McCain’s Three Act Play

Commentary Magazine ^ | September 24, 2008 | Peter Wehner

[Jbny]

The summer of 2008 has reminded us that events can intrude on the best-laid plans of political men and women.

One week soaring gas prices dominate the public mind. The next week a Russian invasion of Georgia becomes the main focus of attention. A third week a massive credit crisis that threatens our financial system overwhelms everything else, to the point that carefully crafted domestic policy proposals may well have to be scrapped or profoundly readjusted. That is the nature of politics. Sometimes it’s within your capacity to control events; and sometimes you accept the fact that you have to react to them.

Yet it’s still vital–despite ever-shifting political currents–to have a strategic game plan in mind and to adhere to it as much as one can. That is surely the case with the Obama and McCain campaigns. While they will make tactical adjustments along the way, they have a political roadmap they fully intend to follow.

The McCain campaign has, since Steve Schmidt took over day-to-day control, been much more impressive than it was: crisper, better organized, and more aggressive. The first thing Schmidt did was to put a frame around Senator Obama’s candidacy; he opted for portraying Obama as a World Celebrity, a popular but shallow candidate, inexperienced and unready to lead. That was the first order of business for Schmidt, and he was very successful in that effort.