Okay, now I'm getting nervous, with the Daily Kos poll down to 5 and Rasmussen at 3 this morning. Nothing in the real world has changed since the final debate, so I have to conclude that McCain's "spread the wealth socialist redistributer" attacks are having an effect.
Obama hasn't really hit back at this as hard as he needs to, in part because the graduated income tax a tricky subject from the perspective of low-information voter "fairness."
So Barack needs to retaliate in terms even Joe the Wingnut can understand -- something like this:
TITLE: John McCain's REAL Tax Plan
Obama:
John McCain has decided that Bush's tax cuts for the rich didn't go far enough. He wants to lower the income and capital gains taxes on millionaires by 40, 50, or even 60%.
And the only way to do that is to raise income taxes on the middle class -- YOUR taxes -- by 50, 60, even 80%.
You see, John McCain thinks, even with the Bush tax cuts, that people with seven houses are paying too much, and you aren't paying enough. That's why he's attacking my plan to ask folks like him to pay their fair share as "socialism" or "redistribution".
We see how that's worked over the last eight years. The richest 1% in America now have more of wealth of this country than at any time since the Great Depression. The result is an economy grinding to a halt as regular people don't have the money to buy cars or homes or even pay the grocery bill.
It's not surprising that John McCain has to lie about my tax policy when he has to defend the failed Republican philosophy that got us into this mess.
I believe in rewarding hard work, not hedge fund manipulation. I believe in a tax system that works for you, that enables you to get decent health care at an affordable price, that allows you to send your kids to the best schools in the world, just like the CEOs, that begins the investment in American ingenuity and American jobs needed to compete against Japan and South Korea.
What does John McCain believe in? Raising taxes on the middle class so he can pay his household staff, and hoping false attacks will confuse the issue just long enough so he can win this election for CEO friends.
Enough is enough. I'm Barack Obama and I approve this message.