TO: John McCain

SUBJECT: Be yourself

In case you haven’t noticed, Senator, you are losing the argument to be the next president of the United States. And you are doing it all on your own.

Recent trends and polls show that Americans are shedding their discomfort with Barack Obama, and women and independents are breaking in his direction.

For your part, you are doing nothing to persuade people to do otherwise.

Time to shed the over-handling and carefulness and go at it.

A movement is brewing in this country: Americans are looking for a leader. Bush is devoid of leadership. Nancy Pelosi demonstrated she is incapable of displaying it. And Harry Reid proves his ineptness daily.

America is in crisis. We have a war that has dragged on for six years. Our financial markets teeter on near collapse. Our national morale is low. And our international image is damaged.

We have a federal government paralyzed by partisan politics. Last week's defeat of a financial rescue (or bailout) plan in the U.S. House was a perfect example; all the House “leaders” could not pull off a successful vote.

You and Obama both have had problems demonstrating leadership during this crisis. You could not sway House Republicans to accept the rescue/bailout. Obama spoke to the Congressional Black Caucus the weekend before the crucial House vote -- and look how its members subsequently voted against the bill.

Where was the leadership?

We have four weeks left for one of you to reveal the character of his leadership. The one who does will win.

You had things under control after the back-to-back national party conventions. Not everything was exactly breaking your way, but you were steadily building goodwill and confidence among women, independents and detached Democrats. And the base was thrilled with your choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as your running mate.

Since then, you’ve made a series of managerial decisions that have frustrated those who support you or who are considering your candidacy. Continued...