Dems will have to face the fact that they're up against John McCain

As we get closer to the actual general election contest beginning, I keep running across Hillary-style messages such as this one from the Democratic Party:

"Clyburn and Fowler Against Third Bush Term"

Columbia, SC – South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Carol Fowler and House Majority Whip Congressman James E. Clyburn addressed Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain's visit to South Carolina and the possible impact his presidency could have on the state today during a press conference.
    "South Carolina doesn't need a third Bush term and that's all John McCain has to offer voters. His policies and outlook on the war in Iraq, the economy and healthcare show he is clearly out touch with everyday Americans. Why else would he say that a lot of Americans' economic problems are "psychological?"  Those of us who weren't lucky enough to marry multimillionaires know those problems are real," said Fowler.
    "Senator McCain is trying to give President Bush a third term and that would be disastrous for South Carolina and this nation," Congressman Clyburn said.  "We can't afford four more years of failed Republican policies that have devastated working Americans with skyrocketing gas prices, record foreclosures, and lack of affordable health care.  We can't afford to remain in Iraq indefinitely when we can't take care of our veterans and those on the homefront.  We need a change in direction, and continuing the disastrous Republican policies is the wrong way to go."

I realize that running against W. again is an attractive and entertaining fantasy for Democrats, particularly those of the red-meat Clinton variety. It plays to their own hostility toward the Prez, and has the added bonus that Mr. Bush's approval ratings are almost as low as those of the Democratic Congress.

But if they really want to win in November -- and I get the impression that they do -- Democrats need to figure out that they're not going to get the chance to do that. First, there's the 22nd Amendment, and then there's the small matter that Mr. Bush isn't actually running this year. On the contrary, the Republican who has been rightly seen (for at least eight years) as sort of the Republican anti-Bush is a shoo-in for the nomination.

Democrats can keep telling themselves that they're running against Bush, but there's this other little problem, one which political parties love to ignore and deny, but which is true nevertheless: Presidential elections are won by winning over those of us who subscribe to neither party.

And independents can tell the difference between Bush and McCain. Maybe you can't, but we can. And we like McCain, for some of the same reasons that we like Obama. So with these two guys running against each other -- as opposed to a contest between, say, Clinton and Bush (the ultimate partisan fantasy) -- you need to get a new line.