First, the diagnosis.

From the Wall Street Journal:

At campaign headquarters in Chicago, the Palin phenomenon is clearly getting under the skin of some aides, who complain she is getting "celebrity" treatment. "The McCain campaign attacks Obama as a celebrity, but they are completely managing Palin's celebrity -- with only handpicked interviews and magazine covers in People and Us," one Obama adviser said. "We're not running for American Idol here -- ultimately we believe the country is smarter than this."

From the Politico:

Yet still, the Obama campaign seems to be struggling to find a consistent, cohesive economic message. One can understand why aides would not want to muddy his mantra of change and his image as a post-partisan, revolutionary figure. But blue-collar voters in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Michigan likely won't vote for Obama because of some meta-narrative or a series of fabulous speeches.

"The [Obama] campaign is beginning to look like other campaigns," said a former top strategist for past Democratic presidential campaigns, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "Obama is struggling with working-class whites just like John Kerry, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Michael Dukakis did, and Walter Mondale. He's struggling with voters in the border-state South. And he's struggling with an enormous wind at his back, a hatred for George Bush and a mainstream media that is little short of a chorus for his campaign."

Now, the prescription, from none other than the Architect himself:

Of all the advantages Gov. Sarah Palin has brought to the GOP ticket, the most important may be that she has gotten into Barack Obama's head. How else to explain Sen. Obama's decision to go one-on-one against "Sarah Barracuda," captain of the Wasilla High state basketball champs?

It's a matchup he'll lose. If Mr. Obama wants to win, he needs to remember he's running against John McCain for president, not Mrs. Palin for vice president.

In other words, ignore Sarah Palin. The McCain campaign has been dangling Palin for two weeks like a worm on a hook, and the Obama campaign, which keeps thinking foolishly she's an easy meal, continues biting.

Take the Bridge for Nowhere. Obama and Democrats think its a great victory to show that Palin didn't oppose the Bridge. Their surrogates in the media and on the blogs are gnashing their teeth over it. So what does Palin do? She keeps repeating that she opposed the Bridge, driving the Obama campaign and its surrogates into a enraged fits, and the debate starts all over. Every day Democrats are fighting to discredit Palin is a day lost for reaching out to the voters they need to win. Forget Palin and the Bridge and stop calling the only woman in the race a liar. What a wonderful strategy for appealing to women voters.

Take the "Lipstick on a Pig" comment. Does anyone remember what Obama said after he said "Enough is enough" yesterday in Virginia? Of course not, which is exactly what the McCain campaign wanted to do with its "Lipstick" ad. Obama and the Democrats are so nervous about appearing sexist that they simply can't ignore the charges when they're hurled. Forget Palin and play your game, not their game.

And after all this, Democrats still wonder how Palin has dominated the race for two full weeks. The Obama campaign should blast out a stock response to every Palin question to every elected Democrat in the country:

Gov. Palin is a fine public servant with a distinguished record. But we're not running against Gov. Palin. We're running against John McCain.