Can McCain win tonight? Three things he must do
Jake Turcotte
Just hours before the third and final debate tonight, expectations for a McCain resurrection in the 2008 presidential race are low.
It鈥檚 like the movie, 鈥�Dumb and Dumber鈥� when Jim Carrey says to his wannabee girlfriend, 鈥淲hat are the chances of a guy like you and a girl like me鈥� ending up together?鈥�
After hemming and hawing, she tells him the odds are 鈥渓ike one out of a million.鈥�
To which Carrey excitedly responds, 鈥淪o, you鈥檙e telling me there鈥檚 a chance!鈥�
Really long odds
Those are about the chances that George Mason University Professor Michael McDonald is giving the McCain campaign of winning the election.
鈥淵ou are more likely to be killed by a meteor dropping on your head than McCain becoming president,鈥� McDonald told the .
The polls are daunting. But as the immortal statesman once said, 鈥淲hen the going gets tough, the tough get going.鈥�
It鈥檚 go time
Last week we put GOP strategist Rob Stutzman up against Democratic strategist Chris Lehane and asked them both what the keys to victory were.
Most agreed that Obama came off as the winner in the second debate. There鈥檚 no question, tonight the pressure is all on McCain.
Once again, we asked Stutzman and Lehane to break down what each candidate must do tonight.
McCain
Stutzman still has hopes for McCain to pull it out. But he says the Republican nominee first needs to offer an apology and then bring back the Straight Talk Express.
鈥淗e should apologize for how unfocused his campaign has been,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hen he鈥檚 got to announce a new campaign direction. Get back on the bus. Give access galore to the media and go campaign from the gut.鈥�
As for tonight, he says McCain needs to ignore Obama and Schiefer and talk straight to the American people. 鈥淗e needs to focus, focus, focus on a winning message,鈥� he says.
Stutzman鈥檚 three keys
Stutzman outlined specifically what McCain should say:
1. This is not the time for on the job training. I鈥檓 the experienced bi-partisan manager who has been in the middle of every great bi-partisan accomplishment of the past 20 years.
2. I will win the war in Iraq, give the US victory not defeat, and keep us safe in a dangerous world.
3. America cannot afford to hand Washington over exclusively to Democrats. The liberals in Congress will drive us rapidly to socialism.
Obama
As for Obama, all he鈥檚 got to do is show up, right? To a point. Lehane says Obama doesn鈥檛 need to win. He just can鈥檛 鈥渄o anything that fundamentally changes the trajectory of the race.鈥�
鈥淭his is like being ahead at the end of a football game where the other side has no timeouts and all you have to do is put a knee down and let the clock run out,鈥� he said.
In other words, don鈥檛 pull a .
Lehane鈥檚 three keys:
1. No fumbles. The only way the race changes is if O makes a mistake 鈥� and he won鈥檛.
2. Keep his cool - McCain is likely to hit below the belt but so long as Obama stays calm and responds forcefully - making clear he will fight for the American people 鈥� this will make O stronger and McCain weaker as the result of the exchange.
3. Panic equals erratic. Frame McCain attacks as panic and evidence of erratic leadership that is exactly the opposite of what the country needs to day. If he does these three things, as he has over the last month, the McCain campaign will be driven into the sea.
The 90-minute debate kicks off at 9 p.m. (EDT) tonight from Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY.