John McCain isn’t going to talk about the economy today. Too much “internal confusion” in the campaign. Instead, he’s got a new speech. Sounds very familiar. Remember how many times Bush was going to win us over with a new speech?

Yesterday, Politico had the scoop that McCain was going to deliver new economic plans. That was wrong. But, Politico got the new scoop about the “more forceful new stump speech:

Three weeks before Election Day, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Monday is unveiling what his aides call a more forceful new stump speech in which he portrays himself as a scrappy fighter on the comeback trail against an opponent who’s already “measuring the drapes” in the Oval Office. “The national media has written us off.,” McCain says in excerpts released by the campaign. “Senator Obama is measuring the drapes, and planning with Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid to raise taxes, increase spending, take away your right to vote by secret ballot in labor elections, and concede defeat in Iraq. But they forgot to let you decide. My friends, we’ve got them just where we want them.” Allies are calling this “hitting the ‘reset’ button” on the campaign, with McCain reemerging after a long Sunday strategy session with a feisty tack that uses candor and humor, at a time when his rallies have become known for raucous rage and clumsy attacks. But it’s more like hitting the panic button. McCain is appearing Monday in Virginia and North Carolina – two states that are usually safe for Republicans in presidential races, and that he should have put away long ago. But Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) is pouring visits and staff into the former Confederacy, and he has caught McCain in many Southern polls.

Seems we have McCain just where we want him…campaigning in states that he should have wrapped up a long time ago. McCain is hitting the panic button. But, he’s always hitting a panic button. He’s erratic. And, a new speech isn’t going to cut it.

Obama’s campaign emailed out an appropriate response to McCain’s new ploy: