McCain's campaign

I don't agree entirely with Dan Kennedy's post on Seth Gitell's post on McCain's campaign and the similarities between Obama-McCain and Patrick-Healy. But I think he does hit on one of the problems with McCain's campaign and a Parcells-like "you are what you are" truth that's worth noting:

Everyone's got operatives. In most successful campaigns, though, the operatives work for the candidate. Conversely, in many losing efforts, the candidate ends up doing whatever the operatives tell him or her. That was certainly the case with the hapless Healey, who, in a matter of two weeks, morphed from respected if little-known moderate to right-wing nut.

There is no such thing as candidates who are better than their campaigns.

Parcells used to say that if you're 2-4, you can't claim "we're better than a 2-4 team." If you were better than that, your record would be. You are what you are.