Paul Waldman

John McCain knows his campaign is in trouble, and so he’s trying to pressure Barack Obama into a long series of town hall meetings. But speeches are the real way the president appeals to the public.

Obama’s defining political skill may prove to be his ability to parry attacks and turn them to his advantage. It kept his campaign moving forward and upward when others would have found themselves unable to go on.

John McCain maintains that he doesn’t exploit his captivity in Vietnam for his campaign, but in reality he can barely talk about anything else. That’s fine, but McCain’s service should be the start of a conversation — not the end of one

The conservative reaction to last week’s California Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage was remarkably subdued. Even John McCain, desperate to pander to the base, had little to say.

This week John McCain wholeheartedly embraced the idea of “judicial activism” — a throughly mendacious concept that actually just means opposing judicial decisions that conservatives disagree with.

Republicans are up to their usual tricks — questioning the patriotism of their opponents. The media, as usual, is playing along because it lauds political success, not virtue.

Democrats need not panic about running against John McCain. The war, the economy, and the Bush Legacy are aligned against him, and he’s never had his centrist credentials attacked from the left.

The press is convinced that badgering candidates about faux scandals is necessary because the issues, “will be raised” in the general election, but it ignores its own crucial roll in shaping the terms of debate.