Where did McCain go wrong?

[bicker]

Interesting article: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/articles/2008/11/03/mccain_battles_on_others_terms

Highlights:

Once the protagonist of his own heroic narrative, he now appears in the role of a supporting actor, at times seeming overwhelmed by historical forces and bigger characters - a scorned President Bush, the sudden financial crisis, the nation's first black presidential nominee, and McCain's own vice presidential choice.

... it often seems that the enthusiasm at his rallies comes from sentiments provoked by his rival [rather than inspired by] ... his own virtues ...

... At the end of his losing 2000 primary campaign, McCain said the experience had established a "McCain Majority," rich in support from Democrats and independents and ready to transcend the partisan divide he said had crippled American politics.

... For the first time in his career, McCain's rallies thrum with ideological fervor from within his party's conservative base, but he seems to engender little curiosity outside it. Meanwhile, a number of prominent Republican moderates who were once among McCain's biggest boosters - led by Colin Powell - have endorsed Obama.

I was going to be one of those of the "McCain Majority" electing him to the Presidency this year. Instead, he betrayed his own values, and the foundation which he, himself built eight years ago, and garnered my disgust and perhaps pity, rather than my vote.

 

[chicagodisneyfan]

Palin - no doubt.

While initially an exciting choice, she has turned off a lot of voters.

I could live with a McCain presidency - but Palin scares me.

 

[dvcgirl]

Palin - no doubt.

While initially an exciting choice, she has turned off a lot of voters.

I could live with a McCain presidency - but Palin scares me.

Ditto.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I have the exact date. May 13th 2006 It is the day he went to Liberty University to begin his suck up to the Moral Majority, whom he deemed as "evil" in the past.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/13/AR2006051300647_2.html

Frightening to read his thoughts on the Iraq War at that time.

McCain added that it is the "right and obligation" of those who oppose the war to speak out against it. "Americans should argue about this war," he said. "It has cost the lives of nearly 2,500 of the best of us. It has taken innocent life. It has imposed an enormous financial burden on our economy. At a minimum, it has complicated our ability to respond to other looming threats."

 

[DVCLiz]

Aside from Palin, which I saw as a huge negative, I just don't think he got to run his own race. Once he brought in the "team" he thought he needed to get elected, his whole message seemed to change.

 

[pr surfer]

Palin - no doubt.

While initially an exciting choice, she has turned off a lot of voters.

I could live with a McCain presidency - but Palin scares me.

I agree wholeheartedly

 

[castleview]

His biggest downfall was the economy tanking and the Obama campaign successfully tying him to Bush.

 

[Master Mason]

it still remains to be seen if he went wrong yet. We won't know if he did or didn't until possibly tomorrow night, and possibly even later depending on how close it is.

 

[dvcgirl]

Aside from Palin, which I saw as a huge negative, I just don't think he got to run his own race. Once he brought in the "team" he thought he needed to get elected, his whole message seemed to change.

Very true. This campaign was really not run by the John McCain I know. It was run by the far right within the base. As for message....I'd say..."what message?" He never got his act together. He ran an ad hoc campaign where he was reacting to events rather than anticipating them. And then when all else failed he just went to 100% attack. And that never works.

 

[eliza61]

it still remains to be seen if he went wrong yet. We won't know if he did or didn't until possibly tomorrow night, and possibly even later depending on how close it is.

Very true,

I will say Candidate McCain has been a very different animal than Senator McCain. I actually thought Senator McCain was a maverick but some where along the way he let his campaign get overtaken by the extreme right. I remember when he was running against GWB he said "there is a special place in H$LL for Karl Rove" and his band of dirty politics but then he turns around and employs the same techniques. While I don't but a lot of stock in polls, 65% of the general public directly blame his campaign as starting the mudslinging.

I feel (and again it's just my observations) that the choice of Palin was to appease the religious right and that if left to his choice he would have went with some one else.
Lastly, I just don't feel that his solutions to the problems ever got out. He was to iffy when the economy began to tank (saying "it was fundementally strong" had to be right up there with the dumbest things to say in history) and after that the campaign just resorted to smear tatics and it backfired.
Spending month after month trying to connect Obama to the Islamic terrorist was simply asinine and he never really got the message that people wanted to discuss domestic issues (economy, jobs, health care) not play 6 degrees of seperation.

 

[Jcricket Fan]

I was in support of John McCain 8yrs. ago when he was going up against Mr. Bush for the Rep.nomination.

I felt at that time Mr. McCain had good things to say and his ideas were sounding like he would buck his party if needed to be his own man and stand for what he believed in. He was in direct opposition of several issues Mr. Bush said he stood for.

I support that type of thinking regardless of what party you align yourself with. Do what is best for as many people as you can not just your party.

Then Mr. Bush won the nomination and Mr. McCain just dropped in line with his party. I sent Mr. McCain an email asking why he was changing his standing on issues which he had been talking about that were not in line with Mr. Bush and the response I received back was that he needed to support his party and show unity with them.

I emailed back and told him that had I liked him because he had stood for what he thought was right not just the party line and now he was just like all the other politicians who cave when pressure is applied.

I was so disappointed in him. He really lost me 8yrs. ago. And unfortunatly during this election season I saw nothing that would lead me to think he had his backbone re-installed.

Peace.
Colleen

 

[OceanAnnie]

it still remains to be seen if he went wrong yet. We won't know if he did or didn't until possibly tomorrow night, and possibly even later depending on how close it is.

True.

 

[Tikitoi]

Palin... And then all his nasty campaigning. Not talking about any issues, just constantly attacking Obama with such made up stuff.

 

[Alicnwondrln]

He didn't lose yet.

 

[Peter Pirate 2]

Palin cost him but much like the Clinton years it made for great television.

 

[bicker]

Win or lose, McCain still went wrong. Instead of building a centrist coalition, and becoming what he could have become, the paragon of a new American renaissance, he allowed to be created around him a festering cesspool of divisiveness, that not even a victory could possibly justify or even rationalize.

 

[OceanAnnie]

Win or lose, McCain still went wrong. Instead of building a centrist coalition, and becoming what he could have become, the paragon of a new American renaissance, he allowed to be created around him a festering cesspool of divisiveness, that not even a victory could possibly justify or even rationalize.

Funny, I'm seeing that with Obama.

 

[bicker]

... we can choose hope over fear, unity over division, the promise of change over the power of the status quo ... we can come together as one nation, and one people, and once more choose our better history. That's what's at stake.

~ Barack Obama

 

[OceanAnnie]

Quote:
... we can choose hope over fear, unity over division, the promise of change over the power of the status quo ... we can come together as one nation, and one people, and once more choose our better history. That's what's at stake.
~ Barack Obama


Coming from someone that made a decree to, "Get in people's faces and argue.", it kind of falls flat doesn't it? How unifying is that?!

 

[LuvDuke]

McCain took that first step on his sad road when he decided to embrace Bush. He put aside his pride, his decency, and his self-respect for political expediency. Bush was riding high in the polls at the time and the field would be wide open in 2008.

From that moment on, McCain was never the same man.

If one has any self-respect, there are some things you may forgive, but you never forget. One of those "things" is the 2000 campaign Bush ran against McCain in SC. Not in my wildest dreams would I ever, ever embrace someone who used my child as a campaign issue.

Of course, Palin didn't help. Whoa, what was I thinking: Yes, she did.