Last minute advice from a GOP partisan

Mike Murphy, a Republican strategist who seems like a smart, even-keeled fellow on the TV talk show circuit and who once was an advisor to Sen. John McCain, offers a new, "go long" strategy:

There is no state by state way to break out of the campaign's current spiral. Trips to Iowa will not do it. McCain has to go global with a big closing message. So, why not...
Strip down the state by state media budget and use the money to follow Obama's lead with a prime-time 30 minute TV address? McCain direct to camera. And for God's sake don't make it another raging attack on Obama. Instead offer a mini mea culpa for the negative tone of the last three months. Then pitch the strong bipartisan sheriff of Washington argument. A non-tax and spend liberal plan to fix economy. Offer hope and leadership.
Follow this broadcast up with two more 30 minute prime-time shows over the final week; both should be town halls with McCain in the arena facing real voters asking him very tough questions, not softballs from local GOP plants.

Says one commenter: "Yeah, he could buy time on the "Pigs Can Fly" channel."

We'll see.

By the way, our poll that asked who won the last presidential debate is now closed.

Obama won with 44 percent.
McCain received 23 percent of the votes.
Joe The Plumber -- 10 percent.
2 percent (1 voter) said it was a tie.
18 percent (7 voters) didn't watch the debate (guess a good rasslin' match was the tee-vee that night.)

38 readers cast votes. (I didn't vote.)

We'll probably put up another poll asking who you support in a few days so stay tuned.