Another Dead Canary

Can it really be less than two months since the New York Times told the world how political strategist Steve Schmidt had transformed the McCain campaign into “an elbows-out, risk-taking, disciplined machine”? At the time, I remember having a visceral reaction to its description of Schmidt’s “brillilance.”

It bothered me that McCain’s surge in the polls was being credited to Schmidt’s attacking style and his penchant for hard-hitting, negative campaigning. What would you expect from a Karl Rove protege? Were Swift Boat politics going to be validated once again?

Now, with McCain’s campaign in a stuttering, discombobulated, mob-powered free fall, I wonder if Schmidt is still wearing the genius tag? If he gets credit for McCain pulling the race even over the summer, then does he get the blame for the looming electoral-college rout on the horizon?

I know that Zogby is reporting that McCain is closing the gap, pulling within 3 percentage points of Obama, but the only polls that count are the state-by-state polls. Five Thirty-Eight still projects Obama capturing 347 electoral votes, well more than the 270 needed to win on election day.

Schmidt’s top-shelf strategist cred has taken a little beating since the summer when all the political writers were singing his praises. The missteps are almost too many to keep track of. Does anyone still think that Sara Palin is going to  deliver more votes for McCain than she loses? The decision to quarantine Palin from reporters, while allowing her a few select national interviews was a dismal failure. McCain’s handling of the economic meltdown — with his announcement to suspend his campaign and take charge of the negotiations –  was so ill-thought out and so poorly executed one wonders why Schmidt and campaign manager Rick Davis still have jobs. The Palin-McCain debate prep left a lot to be desired (and that’s being kind). The campaign’s focus on “washed-up, old terrorist” Bill Ayers bombed, so to speak. The media backlash to “Joe the Plumber” might prove that gimmick just as ill-advised.

Basically, the McCain campaign has been anything but focused and disciplined of late.

Looking back on the NYT story, here’s the passage that stands out now:

Still, the new tone has been jarring to some veterans of Mr. McCain’s presidential run in 2000 who worry that the campaign exudes a cynicism that undercuts the senator’s old reputation for “straight talk” and a more elevated style of politicking. On a number of occasions, Mr. McCain’s campaign advertisements have been described by campaign watchdog organizations as false or misleading, particularly those attacking Mr. Obama on tax votes.

The fact that the race is still close after 8 years of George Bush and an economy going down in flames, tells us it’s too early to write McCain off or underestimate his ability to rally his base and sway the undecideds who are still uncomfortable with the idea of a mixed-race president. There’s also the specter of Ralph Nader and Bob Barr who don’t need to pull too many independents in one or two key swing states to really gum up the works.

The presidential campaign starts today. The next two weeks are all that matter. The American voters will have the final say on whether they’ve had their fill of dirty, hate-generating, deceptive campaign tactics and the “geniuses” who push them.