McCain’s strategy “insane?”

Here’s a very interesting post from Marc Ambinder at theAtlantic.com on McCain’s campaign strategy from one of his GOP sources:

Here’s what a prominent Republican strategist e-mailed me about my contrarian defense of Sen. John McCain’s election strategy:

 

“Insane. The GOP base vote is not in play. That’s why we call it the  base. He has it all; it is a generic vote and not candidate driven.  Show me a Prez election where the key outcome driver was partisan base intensity. It is a myth. The winning vs. losing outcome is whether he can get the others he needs to win; and a pure partisan approach — let alone a nagging and off-putting tone — is exactly the way not to get them. They have the strategy of a Congressional candidate running in a base suburb, and barely even that.”

And this comes from a person who is sympathetic to McCain!