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McClatchy-Tribune

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 8, 2008

AUSTIN, Texas - The battle for the White House is now a 60-day sprint, with John McCain and Barack Obama in pursuit of an elusive political catch: undecided voters who will pick the next president.

The nominees emerged from back-to-back national conventions with their political bases invigorated and the general public newly engaged in the contest.

Although the political mood and national appetite for change still favor Democrats, GOP consultant Don Sipple said Obama "is nowhere near having closed the deal."

"Both campaigns have to transmit to voters in much more lucid terms what benefit they would bring to American lives," he said. "Specifically, what are they going to do?"

For Obama, the task for the next 60 days will be to press his message of change and disabuse voters of doubts about his experience and his quest to be the first black U.S. president.

For McCain, his challenge is to cast himself as a true change agent and the stronger candidate on national security, boosted by his support of the successful troop surge in Iraq.

At the same time, he must distance himself from his party by deflecting Democratic claims that he would be a continuation of the Bush presidency.

Democratic political consultant Chris Lehane said the Obama camp must stay on the offense to blunt McCain campaign efforts to discredit him. "McCain needs to raise questions not only about whether Obama is ready for the job, but whether Obama is someone the American people should feel comfortable with," he said.

Obama has strong appeal to young voters and blacks. With the polls close, Lehane said Obama will have to battle McCain for "working-class white women in the exurbs" - a demographic McCain appealed to last week by choosing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to share the ticket.

"If it's a close election, this is the 2 to 3 percent of the electorate you're going to have to take to win," Lehane said.

The Obama campaign plans to dispatch prominent Democratic women to key states, including Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who heads to Florida this week.

A key moment of the fall campaign will be debates, including the vice presidential matchup pitting Palin against veteran Sen. Joe Biden.

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