What hurt McCain?

[Geoff_M]

I think the debates were the clincher for him. He simply was totally unflappable....that's what made the difference.

That certainly helped him. Obama seemed like he was sent right from Central Casting for a script calling for a likable President. McCain, to the frustration of many Conservatives, inexplicably refused to take advantage of any opportunity given to him by Obama in the debates.

 

[jodifla]

That certainly helped him. Obama seemed like he was sent right from Central Casting for a script calling for a likable President. McCain, to the frustration of many Conservatives, inexplicably refused to take advantage of any opportunity given to him by Obama in the debates.

What would have helped McCain is really laying out a plan for Americans. The few plans he did articulate were downright scary....like his health care plan.

I don't think attacking Obama would have worked. He did that relentlessly in his ads.

 

[allison443]

The Rupublican's complaints about celebrity ended with how they packaged and promoted Palin. All the talk about how many people she had at her rallies, etc. It left me with the perception that the Republicans were hypocrites...

Don't forget Joe the [Celebrity] Plumber!

 

[Planogirl]

I think that if McCain had stayed true to himself then we might be looking at President McCain right now. I think that many of the extremists would still have voted for him and that he would have taken the moderates and independents.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Americans are starving for info. We are a technology nation and McCain is out of touch with that. We want info instantly.

We are used to "attacks" and frankly with all the junk we watch, see, etc..., the attacks don't affect us as much as they did.

If an attack is flipped off you are at your computer reading about it.

So, I would say there is a generational technology gap in there somewhere.

 

[budbeerlady]

I think if he had acted the whole time like he was the last 2 or 3 days he would have had a better chance. This man was not the same McCain from a few years back.

What I had the hardest time with was how he presented himself during the debates. He was outright rude acting often enough to question wether or not I could vote for him. Even if you really strongly dislike someone you still need to be respectful as the leader of a nation. I had concerns about him meeting with Russia or someone else and acting like a jerk.

 

[Geoff_M]

What would have helped McCain is really laying out a plan for Americans. The few plans he did articulate were downright scary....like his health care plan.

I don't think attacking Obama would have worked. He did that relentlessly in his ads.

There's a common trick about such "plans", politicians will leave out key details about them that often will have a major impact on their success as well as costs. FactCheck.org noted that about both candidates health plans. Being coy about "plan" details allows a candidate to take opportunistic liberties with the outcomes on the stump and in debates. Obama clearly did a better job at that in both pumping up his "plan" and attacking McCain's (ex. the bogus claim that McCain's would raise your taxes). People bought it.

As for the attacks, timing is everything. When you wait until you've allowed your opponent to define you before you start attacking back.... it's too late. McCain proved this again. You'd think he'd have learned after 2000.

 

[Jenvenza]

It has been said before - but Bush, Palin and his negative campaigning.

I really think Palin was the final straw for a lot of people.

 

[honeymom]

McCain had some choices to make, and he chose poorly.

He chose to run a negative campaign. The few moments where he digressed from the negativism (i.e. his concession speech), my husband and I said why couldn't he have been this McCain, the regular McCain, the respectable McCain who we could have considered?

He chose Sara Palin. While some will argue that it didn't matter because she has as much experience as Obama, she is not thoughtful as Obama. And, Obama was the one to pick a well experienced VP.

He chose to marginalize the economic issues. While the perfect economic storm may have finally sent voters to Obama, there were strong signs of trouble before then. McCain made statements about not really understanding the economy, he made statements about the fundamentals of the economy being strong. I have never really understood why so many people have supported trickle down economics in our country. To me it is no brainer that it doesn't work. I think perhaps that there are those who still believe in it, like McCain. I think that people like that really just don't understand economics.

Republicans will have a harder time painting Dems as tax and spend, when they have done such a number on the economy. Remember the last time that budgets were balanced and that there was a surplus, was under Clinton. It wasn't just by accident.

 

[Deb in IA]

In order of importance:

1. GWB legacy.

2. ECONOMY.

3. Palin

4. Poorly run campaign, too much emphasis on "character" issues like Ayres, too much repetitions of catch phrases ("maverick", Joe-The-Plumber), lack of his ability to clearly enumerate the positives of his plan.

 

[Geoff_M]

Well, let's hope his response to Russian invasion of Georgia was an aberration. But if I were a Ukrainian at this point, I'd be brushing up on my Russian.

On that note, while the rest of the World was celebrating Obama's win, Russia's new President gave an 85-minute speech and didn't mention the US election once... but he did announce a couple of other things of note:

President Dmitri Medvedev took advantage of the euphoria in America today to order the deployment of missiles inside Europe as a response to US plans for a missile defence shield.

Speaking within hours of Barack Obama's election as the new US President, Mr Medvedev announced that Russia would base Iskander missiles in its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad next to the border with Poland.

He did not say whether the short-range missiles would carry nuclear warheads. Mr Medvedev also cancelled earlier plans to withdraw three intercontinental ballistic missile regiments from western Russia.

Hmmm, WWOD???

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Even though we discuss the failure of the McCain Camp the races were so close in many states.
A different nominee for the Republicans may energize the party.

2012 may be an even bigger battle depending on the state of the union.

 

[burberryplaid]

In my opinion, it was different things for different people.

For young people and minorities, it was the fact that they felt he was out of touch with who they are. Whether it's true or not, that's how they felt.

For some it was fear that things would stay the same.

For some it was that they didn't feel Sarah Palin was a capable politician

It was just a lot of things. I don't think it was him, personally. There is no denying he is a good man and a hero, he just wasn't what the country wanted this time around.

 

[luvmy3]

I think this election was bigger than anything any Republican candidate could have overcome. Too many factors played against the incumbent party retaining control of the Presidency.

Agreed

 

[tinatark]

I think Obama's broken campain funding promise was the hugest factor in the election.

McCain is a very "liberal" conservative, not a straight-down-the line party follower, and I think if the playing field had been equal the results would have been different.

 

[Dodie]

I am a Republican - but bordering on Independent - far more middle of the road - and have always been a McCain fan. That said, I think these things definitely hurt McCain's chances...

• George Bush's presidency - especially his second term.
• The Republican party didn't get "behind him" until far too late in the campaign, simply because he wasn't the first choice of the ultra conservative leaders of the party who don't understand that most of America is in the middle.
• He wasn't himself (or wasn't allowed to be himself) once he won the nomination. John McCain is not a lock-step, conservative Republican. He typically appeals to moderates and is far more middle of the road than he appeared to be during the campaign.
• His choice (or the Party's choice?) of Sarah Palin as a running mate just brought along too much devisiveness - even among his supporters - and people saw it as a reason to question his judgment.

 

[korzmom]

the economy,neg.campaign,the media and hollywood.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

I was thinking about this more today. While I can't speak for anyone else, I can say what kept me from voting for him. I do not affiliate with either party, in 2004 when I voted for a republican governor and a democratic president. In no particular order, this is what made me steer clear of McCain:

-At the very beginning I went onto each candidate's website and made a chart of their beliefs on key issues. I then looked at the issues most important to me and whose beliefs were a better match, Obama was a better match.

-NCLB: as a future teacher I hate NCLB and he wasn't going to do enough to change it. It is one of the worst things to happen to education in a long time.

-The war. I know we can't immediately pull out, but I don't think his strategy was the proper one.

-Bush's legacy in general. Despite the fact McCain is known as a bit of a maverick, I felt that any candidate would feel a lot of pressure from the party to try to preserve some of Bush's legacy and save face for the party.

-His personal life, he is too much of a womanizer, I don't like his situation with his first wife, and he has too much of a temper.

-His age and choice of Palin. I know he is in good health, but he is no spring chicken and this is a stressful job. Palin is completely whack a do and I do not have any faith in her should she be called upon to take over the Presidency.

-The economy, he did not seem to be in step with the current situation.

-As others have said, the Republican party has become a one issue party. While I am pro-life, it feels irresponsible to me to outlaw abortion without addressing the societal issues that lead to the abortion in the first place. The republican party spends too much time, energy, and money trying to pass laws that will wind up in lengthy and expensive court battles only to be eventually overturned. Instead, I think they should use those resources to address the societal problems. I would much rather stop abortion by making it so women no longer feel the need for one than passing a law. There are so many other issues, but this is the one they choose to focus on and it is one of the least important in my book.

-The scare tactics. From what I saw (which was admittedly limited as I try to avoid politics once I decide who to vote for), McCain ran more of an attack campaign that catered to the upper classes and relied on fear, while Obama told me what he would do when he was in office. I heard more about Joe the Plumber and Palin on SNL than I did about McCain's policies.

On the flip side, what got me on Obama's side:

-A better match on the issues

-His stance on education

-Seemed more in touch with the economy

-Would not feel the need to salvage the reputation of the former president

-Very charismatic and well spoken, important qualities in a leader

-I like his Iraq plan better

-Democratic party is not putting all their eggs in one basket issue wise.

-He is younger and more in touch with my generation. There is less fear about him finishing his term, and I have much more confidence in Biden should anything happen than I did in Palin.

-I felt that he reached out more to the average citizen.

In the end, it was a multitude of factors. I can't honestly say that I would have voted republican if it was a different candidate, but I would have considered it.

 

[ReneeA]

This is what I posted earlier today somewhere else, and it pertains to this thread.

I like him, I like the fact that he didn't toe the party line. I liked the fact that he stood up for what he believed in and it didn't matter if he was the only one to do that.

Then look what happened? He started pandering to the far right. Changing his tune when asked about his previous votes. Choosing a running mate that was so extreme that I could not even come close to identifying with her(and I'm a middle class white woman that stayed at home to raise my kids - pretty similar to her!). He was no longer a "maverick". He was a panderer, and I was completely and totally disgusted by the end of the election. If he had went with his gut - really stood up for the things he believed in - defended his record - defended his votes - been John McCain, the person he was all those years and not someone the Republican machine had molded...I would have voted for him. I would have voted for him in a heartbeat, and I suspect many other moderate independents had done the same.

He sold himself out, and it lost him the election. He is a fine, upstanding man...he should have ran the way he had always done in the past.


The few loud mouth "Christian-Conservative Base" that always whine when they don't get someone to cowtow to their far right ideology and threaten to withhold their votes lost this election for him. That's right - they lost it for him. He was pressured to change fundamentally who he is and he lost because of it. I find that incredibly sad that at his age, after all those years of doing what he believed it, NOW he gives into the bullies. I voted Obama because I like him, but it would have been a much more difficult decision for me if McCain had stuck to his guns, cause I liked him, too.

I've had all I can swallow (8 years of it!) of someone that panders to the "base" - who actually doesn't share even a small percentage of the population's views.

 

[whjoyjr]

I think Obama's broken campain funding promise was the hugest factor in the election.

McCain is a very "liberal" conservative, not a straight-down-the line party follower, and I think if the playing field had been equal the results would have been different.

When the talks happened, Obama wanted an agreement covering the campaign, as well as limits to the DNC / RNC. McCain was unwilling to limit the RNC, so there was no deal.

McCain made a tatical choice. He chose public funding. It did not work...