In the Arena

McCain’s New Ad

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This is the sort of thing you put on the air when:

1. You’re desperate.
2. Your Middle East policy has been superseded by events and abandoned by your allies.
3. You apparently have nothing substantive to say about America’s future role in the region and the world.

If you watched both Obama and McCain on the morning shows today, you saw one candidate who was at ease, confident but not flawless (Obama’s answer on the Surge still seems too grudging), and another who was tense and almost entirely negative. There used to be another John McCain–charming, open, unpredictable. I wonder where he went; the McCain who appeared on the air today seemed too much a scold, too little a statesman.