In light of it now looking like a long and protracted race for the Democratic nomination for President, Karl Rove has some advice for what Senator McCain should do in the meantime.

Mr. McCain, on the other hand, will have to work harder to get attention and prepare for the general election. And without a specific opponent, his principal focus should be on himself.

He needs to share a personal narrative about his life, values and inner beliefs in a way that is often uncomfortable to this private man. He must also follow through on his pledge of Tuesday night to carry his fight to every community and corner of America. It was a smart thing to say; it is a critical thing to do. Voters want candidates to ask for the vote of every American, not just the people who look and sound like the candidate.

Mr. McCain needs to define his views on Iraq and the global war on terror in ways that cause Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton to attack him. In politics as in war, the properly prepared counterpunch is often more powerful than the assault itself. But if he spends too much time too early directly attacking Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton, Mr. McCain could use up some of his most powerful material too early and run out of things to say just about the time voters start the process of comparing the Democratic nominee and Mr. McCain.

Rove is right about getting attention with Clinton and Obama slugging it out over the next few months. If it were me, I'd have Senator McCain out there responding to what ever Hillary and Obama were arguing about at the time. For example, when Hillary ran that "3 AM" ad, Senator McCain responded to it by pointing out that he'd be the person most Americans would want answering that phone call.

By doing that, McCain can then interject himself into the Democratic campaign as it drags out and keep himself in front of the American people and the news cycles.