Here’s a shrewd friend’s take on what direction the McCain campaign should go in next (one I happen to agree with):

“There’s an opportunity to put some meat on the bones on the ‘fight for you’ theme. They need a middle-class economic recovery plan. There are significant doubts about the Obama candidacy, and now they have to offer something positive for those voters put off by Obama and attracted by Palin, but who have real economic anxieties.”

Also, Bill Kristol suggested yesterday that this is the direction the McCain campaign is headed:

The Obama campaign is convinced, “We win economics.” The McCain campaign doesn’t think that. They think they can say, “Barack Obama says he wants to cut your taxes, but let’s look at his record. He’s not been a tax cutter in Illinois. He’s not been a tax cutter in the Congress. And John McCain has the program that will help provide jobs and growth for the middle class.” I think you’ll see more — the McCain camp is going to try to lay the groundwork for the debates, but the debates become very important.

Certainly, it’s a great time to hit Obama for his proposed capital gains and dividend tax hikes, as the McCain campaign did in an e-mail today. And they now have an economy-themed ad up.