Time to throw some punches

I know, I know... It's been said before. That doesn't mean I don't get to say it again. It's time for Obama to start throwing some punches that hit McCain where it counts -- in the media gonads.

Last week, the Obama camp tried to shift away from their "even keel" approach and launched two "sort of" negative attacks on McCain. The first suggested he was old because he was unfamiliar with e-mail, and the second focused on the number of former lobbyists who volunteer or work for the McPalin campaign. Barack, is that the best that you've got?

McCain on the other hand, launched scathing attacks that hit at the core of the American pschye, comparing Obama to Britney Spears and Moses, accusing Obama of supporting sex ed for 5-year-olds, and of referring to Palin as a pig wearing lipstick. It's not surprising which ones the media jumped all over. Obama has had to spend the last few weeks on the defensive, spending more time dealing with McCain's statments then spreading his message of "hope and change," which is quickly losing its grip with the undecideds.

McCain is playing a classic game: Get mad, get angry, get votes. Throw some real punches, and if they hit the media, they hit your opponent.

Consider this, from Time Magazine's Michael Scherer:

It didn't matter much if [McCain's] outrage was fueled by fact — better if it was fueled by emotion, which would tweak the fury of his base, leading to exciting exchanges on cable television and fresh chatter around the watercooler. Unlike health care or foreign policy, the emotional charge of outrage has a magnetic effect; voters are forced to take sides and respond, shifting the debate.

It's time for Obama to start hitting hard. His base is behind him, he doesn't have to worry about pushing people away if he strays a bit from his "above the fray" or higher ground approach. What he needs to do is go out and grab those undecideds by making McCain take some real knocks:

• Call McCain out for being a feminist (why won't he let a woman speak for herself)?
  
• Run to the highest hill and askeveryone who will listen: McCain is scared to debate... what does that say about his ability to run this country?
• Expose his Karl Rove-style tactics and lies

It's time to get mad, Obama... about something, ANYTHING! You've got your people rallied around hope and change. We're hooked.

Now you need to go out and hit McPalin where it counts...