Will The Mac Attack McCain?

What do weekend developments re: Afghanistan, Freddie and Fannie mean for Obama and McCain?

-- For McCain, the surge of violence undermines his ability to keep the focus on progress in Iraq. If the Taliban is still killing U.S. soldiers, Middle East success is a tough sell. For Obama, who's been on his heels over questions about his real commitment to withdraw troops in 16 mos., he's now able to go on the offense, which he did in a NYT op-ed this a.m.

-- Still, this isn't w/o some potential pitfalls for Obama. HRC's attacks on Obama's sub-par performance as the Afghanistan sub-cmte chair got no traction suggests it won't work for McCain either. But that was before Obama committed to sending more troops to the region. It also allows McCain another chance to keep up his attacks on Obama as all talk and no action.

-- Of course, for most Americans, Freddie and Fannie are capturing the most attention. Regardless of the real reason for the breakdown, Pres. Bush will bear the brunt of the blame. McCain has yet to provide voters w/a compelling break in economic policy from Bush (just ask SC Gov. Sanford). Until he does, these economic troubles could be his problems too.