William Kristol on McCain’s “Fixer-Upper”

In his much-awaited, Monday New York Times column, William Kristol for a change focuses his attention on something that badly needs attention, and lots of work: McCain‘s fixer-upper campaign.

Just like all of us every week anticipate great things from Kristol’s Monday column, so does Kristol from “Murphy” in “Where is Murphy.”

But, who is Murphy? Kristol tells us:

“Murphy” is Mike Murphy, the 46-year-old G.O.P. strategist who masterminded John McCain’s 2000 primary race against George Bush, helping McCain come close to pulling off an amazing upset. Murphy was then chief strategist for Mitt Romney’s successful Massachusetts governor run in 2002.

And what about Murphy? Kristol believes and hopes that Murphy, a friend of his, will soon join McCain’s campaign…as Chief Strategist.

But, why Murphy? According to Kristol:

As observers of the 2000 effort know, he has a deep rapport with McCain — including an ability to tell him when he’s made a mistake. He’s a creative campaign tactician and an imaginative ad maker — but his great skill has always been an ability to find a clear theme for his candidates, as he did for McCain in 2000, who ran then as a conservative reformer and champion of national greatness.

As I said, for a change Kristol focuses on real issues–instead of, for example, unfoundedly bashing some MoveOn TV ad–and, also for a change, shares some facts with us:

[McCain] understands that his campaign has failed to develop an overarching message. Above all, McCain is painfully aware that he is being diminished by his own campaign.

…Obama has achieved the important feat, as the campaign has moved on, of seeming an increasingly plausible president. McCain seems a less plausible president today than he did when he clinched the nomination.

And, “The McCain campaign this year desperately needs a message and a narrative that is both appropriate for the candidate and for the times.”

So Kristol hopes that Murphy, who, according to Kristol, told a New York Times reporter, that “’the depressingly self-absorbed McCain campaign machine needs to get out of the way” of its candidate, will really shake things up.

Kristol concludes:

With Murphy in charge, McCain will have the campaign team he wants. Then all they’ll have to do is come from behind to win against a superior organization, more money, a gifted candidate and a Democratic-tilting electorate. Oh well: no challenge, no glory.

Wow! A couple more facts from Kristol.

And then there is “Murphy’s Law.”