Barack Obama has been leading John McCain in the opinion polls. For about the past week, Gallup has been reporting that about 48%-49% of registered voters say they favor Obama. On one day, the percentage reached 50%. Meanwhile, McCain’s numbers have been around 42%-43%.

The Republicans will not change this situation around by spending the next two months talking about torture of POWs during the Vietnam War, about mooseburgers about and other such subjects that are irrelevant to future policy decisions.

The Republicans need to identify the major policy issues, criticize the Democrats’ solutions, and advocate their own solutions. This has to be done in a focused and detailed manner.

Unfortunately, though, we spent the past several days, when much of the public was watching the Republican Convention, talking instead about torture of POWs during the Vietnam War and about mooseburgers.