Pick 'Em Now

The war hero senator who rescued America from accepting humiliating defeat in Iraq — by having the courage to put his country ahead of his own presidential prospects — is now himself in need of a rescue.

Is it too late for McCain?

No. The man who more than anyone else forced the highly successful surge strategy in Iraq just might be able to pull victory from the jaws of defeat once again by adopting a bold surge strategy for his own campaign.

The Obama campaign, the Democrats, and their cheerleading squad in the mainstream media want us to believe that McCain has already lost, just as they wanted us to believe that the Iraq War was lost. But a smart surge strategy could turn McCain’s campaign around, just as the surge turned around the war in Iraq.

Obama is now attempting to convince us the November 4th election is a mere formality and his success as inevitable as Harry Reid once said enemy victory was in Iraq. Democrats seem to think that Obama can close the deal on October 29th — six days before Election Day, when he appears in prime time for a half hour on at least two of the three major networks — with a good acting job. The man is, after all, a darn good talker — and he can count on an adoring media to gush over the performance and declare the contest over.

McCain needs to really rain on this parade by making another bold stroke like the Palin pick. That rejuvenated the McCain campaign, befuddled the Obama campaign, excited the country and caused Obama’s lead to shrink.

Here’s a surge strategy for McCain that is easy to do, fun to do — and doesn’t require any reallocation of the limited campaign resources:

As soon as possible, McCain should announce what he should bill as the three most important appointments that he will make upon being sworn in as president.

Promise to name Governor Mitt Romney Secretary of the Treasury. Hail Romney as the man who took on a scandal-ridden Olympic Games mess and turned it completely around. Tell the country that your instruction to Mitt is to do the same with our financial markets.

Remind America that Romney took Bain Capital from $37 million to more than $4 billion. Tout him as an accomplished governor of a large state. Say this is one very smart, very talented man who knows how to find real solutions that really fix problems. Say you will give him full rein to build a team of professionals who will not just solve our current financial problems but also develop plans for preventing future ones, including the looming crisis in Social Security and Medicare.

Let Romney explain what Democrats did with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and just how culpable Obama and the Democrats are. Mitt knows how to pin the tail on the donkey.

Promise to name Mayor Rudy Giuliani Attorney General. Remind the country how Rudy vigorously prosecuted and sent to jail plenty of mobsters and Wall Street financiers as a U.S. Attorney. Tell the country that your instruction to the man who turned New York City around, this hero of 9/11, is to aggressively prosecute and send to jail anyone guilty of any crime that contributed to the collapse of the credit markets that has caused such harm to our country.

Make it crystal clear that you fully expect Rudy will be summoning a fair number of Members of Congress and placing them under oath and just maybe send some to jail. Let Rudy explain Sen. Chris Dodd’s sweetheart mortgage deal and Congressman Barney Frank’s clear conflict of interest. Imagine the headlines if someone who might be Attorney General was spending the days before Election Day naming names of people on Wall Street and in Congress who might find themselves facing a special prosecutor. The American people feel betrayed by both Wall Street and Washington. And letting the people know that McCain will let Rudy loose with a lot of nooses in his hand could be a game changer — all the more so when Obama dodges questions about Dodd and Frank.

Promise to appoint Sen. Joe Lieberman Secretary of State. Say that while you disagree with your good friend on many domestic issues, he is a great patriot who shares your foreign policy and defense views. Call him what he calls himself — an independent Democrat. And turn Lieberman loose in south Florida explaining Obama’s questionable links and conflicting statement regarding Israel while ripping into Jessie Jackson’s recent tirade against the Jews.

Such a surge strategy could rescue the faltering McCain campaign.

First, it’s a bold, rejuvenating step — like the “Sarah Barracuda” selection. This is something the mainstream media could neither ignore nor effectively diminish. Before Obama gets to do his “presidential” act on October 29th, McCain will have beaten him to the punch for a change. He will be the one acting like he is already president; Obama will look like a copy cat. Out goes the wind from that Obama sail.

Second, it also ruins Obama’s October 29th prime time speech idea because it forces Obama to either say or refuse to say whom he would pick for these key positions. McCain could badger him and keep badgering him about it, demanding that Obama “be specific” about his key cabinet choices during his prime time address. If he doesn’t, it helps McCain. If he does, so what? No way can Obama field a better Treasury/Justice/State team than Mitt//Rudy/Joe.

Third, by taking such a stunning step, McCain can offset some of the huge paid media advantage Obama enjoys by countering it with free media coverage.

Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and Joe Lieberman are figures who command attention. Difficult for the media to ignore any one of them, let alone all of them. McCain would be wise to simply send them out and let each of them do it his own way, free of McCain handlers, who have fumbled so often.

The simple truth is that each of these stars does a far better job of presenting McCain’s views than McCain does. They could save him. And if they do, America will have three outstanding leaders in three very critical areas in the years ahead. The rest will fall in place.