No more Mr. Nice Guy

Well, it's not just me.

Over at the Huffington Post, Drew Westen opens up today's commentary on the current state of the political landscape by saying, "Democrats around the country have been growing increasingly anxious over the last week, and for good reason." The article, entitled "What Obama Needs To Do In The Final Sixty Days," takes the Democratic candidate to task for being too polite and not aggressive enough towards McCain and Palin:

McCain shouldn't have gotten a 10-point bump from his uncivil convention, and this election shouldn't be close. What happened in one short week was both completely predictable and completely avoidable. Just hours after a Democratic Convention that reignited Democratic enthusiasm and started to swing those swing voters who just weren't sure about Obama, the Obama campaign had forgotten everything it should have learned from its success of Denver--most importantly that you never drop your gloves, and that you never let the other side control the narratives--and had returned to the same failed strategies that gave us Presidents Dukakis, Gore, and Kerry, strategies Democratic consultants have passed from generation to generation like a family heirloom laced with hemlock.

He's right, and it's high time for Barack to take off the kid gloves and go ruthlessly on the offensive to counter the ridiculous "G.I. John and Superwoman" image being cultivated by the Republicans, which is effectively scoring gains in the polls. This is not a comic book fantasy here, this is real life, and if Obama doesn't step up to the plate and clobber voters over the head with the message that John McCain will bring us (at least) another four years of disastrous Bush policies, we're gonna frickin' lose this thing. He needs to boldly take charge of this election and dramatically redirect the discussion away from the frivolous (Sarah Palin's hairstyle?? Jesus, come on, people!) back to the issues that will impact the future of this country; as Ariana Huffington puts it, "A presidential campaign is a battle and this is the time for Obama to show some commander-in-chief skills."

Damn straight. Let's kick some ass.