A nuanced and comprehensive speech? Yeah, that won't work.

A few lines Obama could have used, mid-speech:

“Republicans like to mock ideas, especially if the ideas don’t come from their friends in the big oil companies. They mock conservation, and efficient vehicles. They joke about the idea that unions make America stronger. But, the situation we face now is not funny. The American people know that it is not a joking matter.

“If you are a factory worker in Michigan, you know that efficient vehicles just make good sense. With gas near record high prices, you want your own vehicle to go further on a tank. You know fuel efficiency is a good idea even if John McCain tries to convince you to build a less efficient vehicle. No amount of Republican sarcasm is going to turn a good idea into a bad one. The American people know better.

“You know it is not funny when promises that were made to you, promises about health care and job security, are broken. It’s not a joke when you work hard your whole life just to see a CEO who made bad decisions get 100 million dollar paycheck.

“And we all know it’s no joke when we face an energy crisis. It is not time for cynical mockery. It is not time for the Republican politics of dismissal and distraction. It is time for American ingenuity and common sense.

“It’s common sense to do things that work. We know, we know, that having more efficient vehicles will help ease the energy burden. We know that hard-working people deserve better. It’s common sense to recognize that corporations should keep their promises. We learn the value of honesty in our churches and synagogues, and we teach honesty to our children.

“But my Republican opponents are not being honest with the American people. John McCain knows in his heart, just like you know, that we cannot simply drill our way out of this. He knows that the trouble in Michigan and in other parts of the country hard-hit by Bush’s economic policies is not the union of hard-working men and women trying to food on the table. Senator McCain knows that the politics and economics of the Bush administration have made things worse rather than better, and he endorses the Bush approach anyway.

“He knows this, but chooses to turn his back on the very people who make America great. He chooses, at this most serious of times, to campaign on badly written jokes and silly videos, rather than on ideas and hard work. My opponents would rather give tax breaks to oil companies than help lower the cost of college tuition for your children.

“America deserves better. In November you will be asked to elect a president, not a class clown.”

See, no nuance ;)

To be delivered by an appropriate Obama surrogate:

“It is interesting to note the ways in which Senator McCain is choosing to remain associated with President Bush.

“Senator McCain did not distance himself from the kind of dishonest and destructive campaigning that Americans associate with President Bush. He did not distance himself from the Bush-team tactic of questioning the patriotism of the administration’s critics. Senator McCain followed President Bush’s economic policy; he followed President Bush’s lead by hiring many of the President’s former consultants on his campaign, he followed the President in embracing the very people Senator McCain once called 'agents of intolerance.'

“Senator McCain has established himself as quite a follower. Even when President Bush displayed a maverick’s disregard for the Constitution and the rule of law, John McCain followed.

“Senator Obama understands and respects the Constitution and the rule of law. Senator Obama understands that America is safer and more prosperous when the rule of law and the Constitution are respected, and when America is a leader in the world because of this.

"American leadership in the world came about because the world saw that we respected the rule of law, and the world respected us because of that fact. That respect encouraged other countries to make alliances with us, to invest money in America, to give us the benefit of the doubt. That respect made America stronger. President Bush and his followers have abandoned that respect. And this makes us less safe, and less prosperous.

“On these important issues; on economic policy, on respecting the Constitution and regaining the respect of the world, on fighting for the middle class, Senator McCain had ample opportunity to lead. Instead, he followed President Bush when it was popular in the polls, and now, when Americans are unhappy with the President and his policies, Senator McCain is trying to create some artificial distance.

“America needed Senator McCain 4 years ago, when a true maverick would have stood up for the Constitution. Where was he? Following President Bush.”

Yep, somebody needs to create a "McCain is not really a Maverick" meme-of-the-week.