Dark Side of the Moon

Desperation is the English way, observed Pink Floyd on its album “Dark Side of Moon.”

The dark side of the moon is where the Clinton campaign seems to be residing right now.

First, there was the Xerox moment.

My good friend Paul Vinovich put it this way to me in an e-mail: “My favorite thing about the snide ‘Xerox’ remark is that it was obviously written in advance and given to her to use. So she uses words written by others to attack Obama for using words written by others. How Clintonian.”

Well said, Paul.

Now, there is the picture of Barack Obama in African garb.

The Clinton campaign quite clearly leaked this photo to the Drudge Report to embarrass the junior senator from Illinois.

Then, they deny that they leaked the picture.

Then Hillary says, “What’s the big deal? I have thousands of pictures of me in silly clothes.”

And then they blame the Obama campaign for leaking the picture because — they say — he wants to change the subject from his inexperience.

You have got to be kidding me!

As it searches for a new level of cynical manipulation, the Clinton campaign has sunk to a new level of incompetence and shame.

McCain needs to learn from the mistakes of the Clinton campaign.

There is no need to make Obama’s race an issue. The clumsy efforts of Bill after South Carolina and Hillary’s campaign with this photo have backfired badly.

There is no need to resist the change argument. Hillary got into a whole thing about change with experience, blah blah blah. It didn’t work for them. The American people want change. We get it.

There is no need to try to match Obama’s eloquence or to condemn it as empty rhetoric. That has been a loser for Clinton. John McCain is much better with his straight talk when he is answering questions from the audience.

If McCain is going to win this race, he will win it with a specific and detailed discussion of real issues.

If the American people want to lose in Iraq, they shouldn’t vote for McCain.

If the American people want to pay much higher taxes, they shouldn’t vote for McCain.

If the American people want more government in their lives, with more regulations, more bureaucrats, and more power and influence coming from Washington, they shouldn’t vote for McCain.

Unlike in the Democratic primary, there are real, profound differences between McCain and Obama. Those differences should help define this race and should help McCain win the election.