On TV today, John McCain joked that the only way he could trump Barack Obama’s plan to deliver his acceptance speech not in the hall at the Democratic convention but at a 70,000 seat football stadium would be to parachute into the Republican convention in Minneapolis-St Paul. But there is something else he could do: hold a town-hall meeting with un-decided voters in Minneapolis-St Paul rather than deliver a conventional convention address.
McCain can not hope to compete with Obama as a set-piece orator so he shouldn’t try. Instead, the McCain campaign should use the hours of prime-time coverage across all the networks to show voters their candidate in his best setting, the town-hall meeting. Directly answering voters’ questions with a little straight walk would also draw a potent contrast with Obama speaking in vague terms, admittedly beautifully crafted vague terms, to an adoring and unquestioning crowd from a podium.
Rather like Cameron delivering his conference speech last year without a prepared text or an autocue, the media and the public would be drawn to it by the drama—one bad exchange, one ill-judged quip could end the McCain candidacy. But equally, it could provide the most memorable moments of the campaign. It would also hugely increase the pressure on Obama to agree to do joint town hall meetings with McCain.
To be sure, this is a risky strategy. But McCain is behind in a simply awful political environment for Republicans and won’t beat Obama with the traditional Republican playbook. By rolling the dice early, McCain could change the contours of the race and gain the big ‘mo heading into the decisive autumn stretch of the campaign.
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