McCain: Mark Penn's lessons

The Washington Post's Balz examines the Atlantic-Clinton memos and wonders what McCain could learn. "McCain's campaign appears to have less hesitation than Clinton's did in going after Obama. For the past few weeks, it has run a series of negative ads -- some humorous, some not so -- that portray Obama as a famous but empty suit who is wrong on many of the issues Americans care most about.  The ads, at a minimum, may be getting under Obama's skin. It's possible they are doing real damage. Penn seems to believe that, based on what he wrote for the Politico. ‘Fair or not, as advertising it did its job,’ he said.” “Just how far McCain's campaign will pursue this strategy isn't clear. There are risks for him, just as there were for Clinton. Obama has proven over this long campaign to be a difficult target to hit -- at least on anything more than an occasional basis. So the mileage may be limited long term. More fundamentally, McCain risks damaging his reputation as a politician who has ... (link)