This is a preview of what we will see this Friday when McCain will try to make the debate all about the Surge.

I would argue that this is where McCain won the Republican nomination.  Up to this point Romney was the favorite of the base and he began to fade after this debate.  There was alot of commentary that Romney was right about the facts but that is not what the Republican base is interested in.  They identified with McCain's stubborn, snarling but strangly calm refusal to accept any other version of reality except his own.  That is exactly the political style that attracted the base to Bush.  And that is exactly what we will see from McCain when he brings up the surge.

In today's foreign policy speech Biden is trying to frame the debate and get under McCain's skin and piss him off.  That may work to an extent but when you watch him against Romney it becomes clear that he will not be thrown off track when it comes to the surge.  He will hammer Obama over and over again, badgering him to admit he was wrong, interupt him, talk over him and generally be an asshole about it.

The Republican base will love it, for them it is all style over substance, he could be talking in tougues for all they care as long as McCain is aggressive and stubborn.

I am sure that Obama is prepping for just this kind of grilling but it is not going to be a pretty sight.  The question is; will his reaction turn off those on the left that are marginal voters.  Will it turn off marginal women voters?  Will it turn off independants or Reagan democrats? 

This is the essense of Rovian politics; snarling sarcastic attacks unify the Republican base while dividing the Democratic coalition.  The anti-war left is turned of by an agressive response and the Reagan Democrats are turned off by a weak response.  How will Obama bridge that divide?