Pull the Goalie?

Bill Kristol, in his New York Times column from yesterday, has some interesting advice for John McCain. Get rid of the entourage and the negative ads, and go back to the Straight Talk Express.

Kristol has written throughout this campaign about his close ties to the McCain organization, so this might represent a trial balloon from the campaign itself.

A total change in strategy three weeks before the general election would signal desperation. But that doesn't mean he shouldn't do it.

As with so much of life, a sports analogy is apt. When an ice hockey team is behind in the final minute or two of a game, they pull their goaltender off the ice, to substitute an additional forward. If the strategy goes awry, they might lose by a larger margin. But that doesn't matter if, without such an attempt, they were destined to lose anyway.

This would be another of the "pull a rabbit out of his hat" moves by McCain, that I wrote about here. McCain seems now to be in the same situation as that trailing hockey team. From his point of view, it seems as though he has nothing to lose by shaking things up.

Aside from any tactical political gains, it just might be the right thing for the good of the nation.