Barack Obama has a message problem. If he doesn't fix his message soon, he will lose the battle to define himself, his opponent and the election itself. Such a loss would cost him the White House.

With the release Friday of John McCain's newest attack ad "Painful" — the fifth negative spot out of his last six — McCain is laying the foundation of his fall campaign strategy. His new ad connects multiple themes, from celebrity to elitism to liberal disdain for everyday Americans. Onto this foundation, McCain can attach any and every negative meme about Obama: from arugula to guns and religion, from Rev. Wright to higher taxes, from "uppity" ambition to sacrificing victory in Iraq for victory in the election.

Life in the spotlight must be grand, but for the rest of us, times are tough. Obama voted to raise taxes on people making just $42,000. He promises more taxes on small business, seniors, your life savings, your family. Painful taxes, hard choices for your budget, not ready to lead. That's the real Obama.

Virtually any sound bite or footage can be made to fit McCain's emergent framing of Obama. Sadly, the more outrageous McCain's ads get, the more they penetrate public consciousness through cable news stories. The Pew Center's latest study reports that McCain has now pulled even with Obama in news coverage. All of which is why McCain's foundation of distortion must be demolished now, before it settles deeper into the American psyche and become permanent.

Here's what Obama can and must do:

Obama's message needs to scrupulously avoid repeating McCain's rhetoric. Far too often, Obama himself is the one repeating it. Just hours ago, the Illinois senator needlessly reinforced one negative meme about himself, saying he wouldn't throw his loyalty to the Chicago White Sox "under the bus" just because he was speaking elsewhere.

Obama should step up his offensive game in stump speeches and ads. Half of all voters say they're tired of hearing about Obama. Could it be because Obama rarely focuses his rhetoric on McCain but McCain focuses virtually all his rhetoric on Obama? The celebrity elitist charge must be answered forcefully and with finality by shining the spotlight on McCain's more pronounced celebrity elitism. It won't be cost-free, but it will blunt McCain's attacks and pave the way for the next stage in Obama's message.

Obama needs to take a sledge hammer to McCain's pedestal of honorability and integrity. If he can't bring McCain down from that pedestal, he can't successfully assail McCain on presidential readiness, mental acuity or a host of other issues. Not without being seen as badly disrespectful. Taking on McCain's honor and integrity doesn't mean depicting McCain as a Manchurian candidate or even touching his military service. McCain's flip-flops, conduct of the campaign and involvement in the Keating Five and coziness with lobbyists is enough. McCain's campaign manager, Rick Davis, is now known to have lobbied McCain for approval of Airborne Express's sale to foreign-owned DHL, with the loss of 30,000 Ohio jobs now looming.

Obama must have a lock on populism. Discredit and destroy the charge that he would raise taxes on families, seniors and working people. Contrast his plans with John McCain's. Show people who really cares for average Americans.

If Obama fails to respond, frame and focus the debate on his opponent, McCain will contrive a referendum on Obama. And Obama, against all odds, will lose.