Mac's Preferred Contest: Obama as Incumbent

John McCain is doing perhaps the only thing he can to win this race—casting Barack Obama as the incumbent and attacking him, writes E.J. Dionne Jr. in the Washington Post. It makes sense: People are tiring of the heavy coverage of Obama, it seems, and McCain knows that if the race becomes a referendum purely on issues, his links to President Bush and the GOP will hurt him.

"The one contest McCain can win is an election about Obama," writes Dionne. "Paradoxically, Obama's imperative at his convention is to reassure voters about who he is while also moving the spotlight off himself."
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