What I think the Obama-Biden message should be

ILLUSTRATED: Spell our our domestic agenda, criticize the damage to our force structure, call McCain a flip-flopper.

Three years ago this week I wrote about what I would do in a day for the party if I were Howard Dean.  Luckily, he's done most of what I hoped for building the party's GOTV operation.  It goes unreported on political talk shows and the like, but it will be worth one or two percentage points on election day.

Now I can pretend to be Robert Gibbs, the communication director for Obama-Biden.  Here are the three points I'd make: first and foremost, a concrete economic plan.  Work with Bill Clinton who can explain any policy to anyone. Second, the only thing that changes the favorable playing field for Obama is a national security crisis, foreign or domestic.  So inoculate ourselves by showing how Bush/McCain has failed us.  Lastly, attack what McCain is saying about himself by calling him a flip-flopper.

1. Make the Economy Work for You.  

-A $1,000 tax cut for the middle class, let's say it again, a $1,000 tax cut for the middle class.  As for the wealthy, they got richer during the Clinton years.  We're simply ending their 8 year tax holiday and returning their rate to that during the Clinton years.

-Get off oil. FDR's science project was splitting an atom. JFK's science project was going to the moon.  Ours will be getting off oil, not just imports, but oil altogether.  It saves the planet, creates new science jobs, and perhaps most importantly, gives us more leverage in foreign affairs.

-Cover all Americans.  Let people buy into an affordable health care risk pool.  We all know that bulk purchasing is cheaper, so the same goes for insurance pools and prescription drugs.  

-End all incentives in the tax code for outsourcing.  Enforce fair trade deals.  Support workforce development for kids and adults.

2. The Iraq War is broken our military and intelligence services

People can debate how much the Surge helped create the lull in violence in Iraq.  But there is no doubt that our force structure is seriously damaged.  Also, we had to take a lot of intelligence assets from Afghanistan and elsewhere to send them to this mistaken war in Iraq.  Who knows how many terror plots are undetected because of this.

3. John McCain is a political flip-flopper

-Taxes

-His own immigration plan

-Torture

-The type of judges he likes would overturn his campaign finance law.

Extra thoughts:

-Don't delve into the Palin dramas for now.  The media is doing that anyway, and it is a major distraction to McCain in getting his message out.

-Wrap up the domestic plan in the language of "reform" to water down the Republicans' patina as reformers.

-Ultimately, illustrate how we'll turn the country around in a few easy steps.