Tough times for the Obama campaign right now. What would Karl Rove say? Well, turn your opponent's strength into a liability. What's the strength of the opposing ticket? Sarah Palin. But what does the Rovian strategy mean in this context? Here's one possibility:

Call John McCain out as being "increasingly, a bystander in his own campaign."

Benefits:
1) Shines the spotlight back on McCain,
2) Uses the national fascination with Palin against the ticket by tying it to McCain's comparative lack of personal appeal,
3) Paints McCain as irrelevant (and subtly hints at McCain's age).


McCain has been all to happy to make comparisons between Palin and Obama (on experience, earmarks, etc.). This has been good for McCain because he can get off scot-free while the pundits debate "state senate" versus "small town mayor" experience.

But Obama can turn this discussion to his advantage by noting that we are ignoring McCain because he simply doesn't matter.

Americans won't elect an irrelevancy to be president.