Of all the neocons, MC Rove is far and away the most nervous right now.  Because his brainchild, the Republican majority, is wilting.   Rapidly.  And he's burdened with the difficult task of getting John McCain elected to the highest office in the land.  
The strategy?  
Get Americans to forget the last eight years so there can be another eight years just like it. 
He'll play the patriotism card, the race card, the experience card, the fear card, and the absolute fabrication card, you know, the usual suspects. 
The Republican specialty is mischaracterization.  They can't beat Barack Obama but they can beat Barack Obama out of context.  
They're already taking Michelle Obama out of context with the "only now am I proud of my country" snippet.
The Republicans are stronger communicators than the Democrats and the reason they do so well is because they campaign the loudest.  You hear them yelling on every cable news network, 24 hours a day.  Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill "Orally", the whole lot of them.  They debate with the subtlety of AK-47.
They must have a Republican boot camp for surrogates. 
Rove hasn't won a fair or swift-boat free election in his life.   2000? He diebolded that one.   2004?  Swift boat parade.   2006?  Swiftboat parade but lost anyway.  
He has a lot riding on the 2008 election.  Expect his worst.