I take the Paris Hilton tack very seriously.  The McCain campain is now being run by Bush reelection team members; the switch of campaign manager/strategist a few weeks ago was the clue.

We Democrats like our politics rational.  We tend to be crusaders, policy wonks and bread and butter folks.  The Republicans don't.  They like their politics irrational, gut level, reptilian.  They use sophisticated devices to attack on that level. We call it going negative but it is more than that.  It is a nonverbal, subconscious language.

We need to reply in kind.  I think our gut message is, we can take whatever you dish out and dish it back, stronger, and still stand for something greater than you. 

One fear=based theme might be abandonment (with opportunism, careerism).  McCain abandoned his ailing first wife when her returned to US after release (when he was a celebrity, wasn't he?). He has abandoned his maverick stance to embrace Bush and the Religious Right. What does he really stand for? Can we count on him not to abandon uswhen the chips are down?

Another: Feebleness.  John McCain seems to be slowing down. He seems to have trouble remember basic, like that Czechoslovakia is not a country any more or that Iraq doesn't have a border with Pakistan.  Maybe memory is the reason behind his frequent changes of position .  His plane is  running out of gas. (Image: sputtering engine). Do we want to entrust our futureetc?

So while going with the brilliant promise of an Obama presidency, transcending old lines and old politics, gatering a real majority for change, we should be answering McCain shot for shot.  We can give as good as we get AND we have the better arguments AND we have the far better candidate.