The punditry is in a frenzy explaining what John McCain needs to do tonight to change the trajectory of the election. This final debate won't really be that decisive. The traditional media is still playing the presidential race like it's a neck and neck horse race. It isn't.
Obama just has to be Obama tonight.
McCain's challenge is that he can't be McCain. He has to have solid economic ideas. He has to explain those ideas. He has to keep his cool. He can't be too nasty. He can't be erratic. But, McCain has already said he'll be on the attack. That nastiness -- and Sarah Palin -- got McCain into the precarious place he is right now. McCain will be McCain tonight:
When they meet in their final debate, it will be the last time voters see the candidates side-by-side before Election Day. The meeting comes on the heels of new economic prescriptions offered by both candidates over the past two days.McCain has the toughest job because McCain can't help being McCain.
McCain's crucial job is to convince voters that he can handle the economy as he fights to keep his campaign on track after a rough-and-tumble week dominated by character attacks on Obama, which drowned out his own economic platforms. And while Obama has bought 30-minute ads, McCain likely can't afford that, so Wednesday gives the Arizona senator a key national forum to talk to voters.
Obama must turn in a steady performance to secure the confidence of working class voters, whom polls show have moved toward the Illinois senator as the economy consumes the nation's attention. New polls out Tuesday showed Democratic nominee gaining ground in several key swing states.
Republican McCain has the toughest job because voters partly blame the current administration for the economic problems.
