By Christopher Coffey
Republican Political Consultant

We are in the midst of a financial crisis that demands steadfast leadership in Washington, D.C. Voters will be starving for a President to guide them, and Senator McCain is this person. He has endured worse in his own life, and he is the man who can restore our confidence.

This is why John McCain must turn the page forward to the issues of 2008 & 2009, and not back to those of 1969. His campaign has already wasted months ridiculing Senator Obama and neglecting the innumerable reasons in favor of a McCain presidency. They are paying the price in the polls.

Now, the McCain campaign invites us to join it on a 60’s –70’s flashback, which comes in the form of Obama’s coffee klatsch and board service with Weather Underground whacko Bill Ayers. Like hippies, Woodstock, and the Summer of Love, the Weather Underground is a distant memory and completely irrelevant to the financial crisis or any other problem confronting the next president.

Obama is many things: He is naïve, liberal, inconsistent, and inexperienced, but he is not a member of the Weather Underground. Plus, these attacks look desperate. Drop it.

Here is a better approach for the Election Day homestretch:

McCain should concentrate on the economy for the rest of the month. He must appear focused, resolute, and adult.

These are uncertain times, and voters will crave his brand of steady leadership. While negative campaigning works, inane irrelevancies, in the absence of discussion relating to the financial crisis, will put Senator McCain’s candidacy at further risk.

If McCain continues to go negative, then he should remind America that it is Obamanomics, and not some crusty Weatherman, that remains a true the threat to the economy.

John McCain can still win this one. Hopefully, it will be because voters find him the man best equipped to lead us through today and tomorrow.

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