How McCain Can Win

Writing at Salon.com October 13, Walter Shapiro offered four ways that might enable Republican presidential nominee John McCain to turn this election around. In "How John McCain Could Still Win," Shapiro says, "The odds are long for McCain, but this is no time for Democrats to embrace irrational exuberance."

Shapiro says "...there are still valid reasons for Democrats to contain any irrational exuberance" in the lead-up to his four paths for a McCain turnaround. So, without further delay, here are Shapiro's four ways that McCain can still win the White House.

Number 1: The volatile voter. According to Shapiro, "...it is ludicrous to believe that public opinion will be frozen in amber for the next 22 days." He goes further, arguing that most pollsters attempt to "push" voters who are undecided into one of the two candidates' camps. The reason, Shapiro says, is that "...no one likes a news headline that reads, 'Uncertainty Reigns as Election Day Nears.'"

Number 2: The October surprise. Shapiro takes two tracks here. First, he says the "biggest" October surprise may be the financial markets - if they stop their slide, that is. Second, Shapiro writes, "Seven years after 9/11, it seems both alarmist and in bad taste to speculate about the political fallout from a pre-election terrorist incident. But al-Qaida surprises can come in less lethal packages, such as the election eve 2004 Osama bin Laden tape that may have undermined John Kerry."

Number 3: Another McCain dice roll. Playing on the theme of John McCain as a "maverick," Shapiro says the Arizona Senator may try yet another unexpected move in the campaign, following his selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate and decision to "suspend" his campaign to address the economic crisis. Possibilities: a pledge to serve just one term, or how about "...a public repudiation of the presidency of George W. Bush.

Number 4: Know when to fold them. Here Shapiro argues that McCain should stop wasting time and money by stumping in states that he cannot win. McCain should focus instead, Shapiro says, on states like Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Virginia, North Carolina, Nevada, Colorado and Florida.

Now, all that said, Shapiro, as one would expect, does not think McCain can turn this election around, writing, "...a passionate embrace from Lady Luck is probably now the only way that John McCain will ever find himself behind the desk in the Oval Office."