New McCain Strategy: "What he said".

I was listening to McCain's speech from Virginia Beach today, and I heard something that sounded somehow familiar. He said, "I’m going to make government live on a budget just like you do."

So I went to my notes from the last debate and sure enough, there was my answer.
Obama: "We're going to have to prioritize, just like a family has to prioritize."

I guess that's one way for McCain to find an effective message. First you find the more effective candidate, and then you steal his message.

McCain finished his speech with a modified closer from his speech at the RNC, "Stand up, stand up, stand up and fight. America is worth fighting for. Nothing is inevitable here. We never give up. We never quit. We never hide from history. We make history."

That sounds strangely similar to two other phrases I've heard from the Dems. At least since the DNC speech, Biden has been telling the story of how his dad always said, "Champ, when you get knocked down, get up... get up." He ends most of his speeches by repeatedly and emphatically telling America to "get up".

If you put McCain's and Biden's closing remarks back-to-back, you get a Bob Marley song. "Get up, stand up..."

And then there's McCain's line that "we never hide from history. We make history." Hmmm... is that anything like Obama's oft-used line that "our destiny is not written for us, but by us."

To be fair, on that last one I cannot honestly say who said what first without spending a lot of time searching, and they're both kind of trite "destiny grabbers". Suffice it to say that there is not a lot of daylight between the catch phrases the two campaigns are using these days, and McCain had better find a way to stand out or he's in trouble. That is, unless you believe another quote from his speech to day... "My friends, we've got them just where we want them."