COMMENTARY: McCain Reaches Out To Women, Plays Elitist, Fear Cards

In what was his most powerful speech of the 2008 election cycle, both stylistically and substantively, John McCain reached out to female voters and sought to portray Barack Obama as an elitist more trusting of bureaucrats and his own ideas than the common people the Illinois Democrat has at times struggled to capture in the primary contests.

McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential canddidate, speaking from Louisiana, went right after potentially disaffected female Hillary Clinton supporters on the historic night for Obama, a U.S. senator who moments ago collected enough delegates for his party's nomination.

"As a father of three daughters I owe her a debt of gratitude," McCain said.

McCain added that he is "proud" to call Clinton, a U.S. senator from New York, a friend.

Smiling more often than usual and taking the pose of the happy warrior in a way we didn't see in Iowa -- or in the months after -- McCain raised concerns about Obama's judgment and characterized him as something of an arrogant savior without the experience to back up the hype. McCain said Obama is cut from the cloth of the Ivory towered who are sure of themselves but don't have faith in other people. "He doesn't trust us to make decisions for ourselves," McCain said.

Using change 32 times in the speech McCain challenged Obama's claim to that dynamic, arguing that the Illinois senator is tethered to a liberal legacy.

"I am surprised that a young man has bought into so many failed policies," McCain said.

With a broad smile, and pitch perfect timing, McCain said his candidacy is not a "third Bush term" -- a narrative the Obama campaign has been pushing with caffeinated persistence.

"He tries to drum it into your minds by constantly repeating it," McCain said.

McCain also used the fear card, saying Obama's Iraq policy would draw the United States into a wider war rather than bring peace through withdrawal.

This post first appeared on Iowa Independent.com.