Gimmickry Makes McCain the Howard Dean of 2008

What’s the most apt parallel for John McCain’s underdog White House run? It’s Howard Dean’s gimmick-loving, maturity-lacking 2004 run, Ezra Klein writes in the American Prospect. McCain’s “whimsy” shone yesterday with ads in Berlin, NH; Berlin, Penn.; and Berlin, Wis. (with Barack Obama in the German capital)—proving again that his presidential bid, like Dean’s, lacks the appropriate “maturity and savvy.”

Also like the Democrat, McCain had enough steam to go far in the primaries—“slipping through a weak field” by “being human where Romney was robotic, and capable where Huckabee was entertaining.” But with the general-election chips down, his people “just don’t know what to do with their campaign.” At least watchers have the pleasure of seeing Mac test-drive a different message every day. (More Barack Obama stories.)