Changes

McCain will highlight his record of leadership, his service to his country and stress that as President he can be counted on to keep America safe from outside threats.  McCain's strongest supporters are the elderly - the group that most wants stability.

McCain will highlight his record of leadership, his service to his country and stress that as President he can be counted on to keep America safe from outside threats.  McCain's strongest supporters are the elderly - the group that most wants stability.

McCain chose first-term [[Alaska]] [[Governor]] [[Sarah Palin]] as his Vice Presidential nominee.  Her relative inexperience on foreign policy issues could undercut his argument against Senator Barack Obama's lack of experience in this area, but her ability to enact change in Alaska supports his image of a man who gets things done.  McCain has touted Palin's record of standing up to the Alaska Republican party when she resigned from an Ethics Commission in protest over a lack of ethics of fellow commissioners, as well as when she ran against, and beat, then-incumbent Governor [[Frank Murkowski]] in the Republican primary in 2006.  McCain will continue to tout her as a "maverick" and contrast her record outside of Washington, D.C. to Obama's V.P. nominee, [[Senator Joe Biden]]. Last, by choosing a female running mate, McCain hopes to pick up the votes of female voters disaffected with the perceived slight of Hillary Clinton by Obama.  Prior to the start of the Democratic convention, 30% of Hillary's supporters had still not backed Obama.

McCain's choice of [[Alaska]] [[Governor]] [[Sarah Palin]] as his Vice Presidential nominee was a departure from what was expected and helped to show that he would go down paths that the Republican party had not done in the past.  McCain has touted Palin's record of standing up to the Alaska Republican party when she resigned from an Ethics Commission in protest over a lack of ethics of fellow commissioners, as well as when she ran against, and beat, then-incumbent Governor [[Frank Murkowski]] in the Republican primary in 2006.  McCain will continue to tout her as a "maverick" to complement his own maverick image that he is trying to emphasize. Last, by choosing a female running mate, McCain hopeed to pick up the votes of female voters disaffected with the perceived slight of Hillary Clinton by Obama.  Prior to the start of the Democratic convention, 30% of Hillary's supporters had still not backed Obama and there was a good deal of bad blood between the two.

In general, the campaign, as noted by McCain's campaign manager, will try to make the election, "not about issues", but rather about the candidates running.  With the economy foremost in the minds of voters, and the Democrats leading on that issue in the eyes of voters, the campaign wants to focus on McCain's status as a "maverick" within his party.  They have gone so far as to co-opt Obama's message of "change" claiming they are the party that will really change the status quo.

With the unfolding of the campaign season and watching the Democratic strategy and how it was playing out in the press and polls, the McCain campaign decided not to cede the moniker of change to Obama, but rather to take it upon themselves by emphasizing that McCain has a track record of change - while Obama does not.  The McCain campaign feels it needs to have the voters ask who can be trusted more to get the job done, and if that occurs, that they have the advantage.

===Democratic Strategy===

===Democratic Strategy===