The section of the speech that followed on the economy was surprisingly strong. His emphasis on trade, taxes and deregulation was excellent. His linkage of our economic future to international competitiveness, and in turn linking this to choice in education was (in my view) the intellectually correct position, but also would be very hard for Obama or Clinton to me-too.

McCain is establishing smart points of difference that will be especially useful if he needs to force Obama to debate on issues.