What was it that cost John McCain the victory??
This will be the question for months to come. At the end of the day, what will the republicans have to change in order to ever see the White House again or control of the house and senate?
John McCain in 2000 was a viable candidate. He was truly a maverick then. The republican machine quickly made mincemeat out of his campaign and he was out.
8 years later, McCain found himself at war with Obama and the RNC and its idealogies.
Was he a maverick or a sidekick? Dont know, it seemed to change from month to month, depending on who was advising him.
At first, he stepped aside from the RNC machine and was quickly left for dead on the side of the road.(so much for the maverick thing) Then, in desperation, he fires his campaign staff and hired GW Bushes people.
With Steve Schmidt at the helm, McCain had to do a switcheroo on positions and lose the whole "maverick" thingy, despite trying to claim he was still one.
Steve threw him a bone on some issues, and then came the selection of a running mate. This decision seemed to boost him at first, but today, looking at the polls for Sarah Palin, it appears she dragged him into a landslide.
Her selection was intended to shore up the "BASE" and it did, unfortunately, it alienated the moderates of the party and drove away the independents.
Seemingly unfair, this economy which had been sending signals since 2006 that tough times were coming, McCain was behind the 8 ball merely repeating the rhetoric of the Bush Administration "the fundamentals of the economy are strong".. and this was the straw that broke the camels back.
McCain could never define himself clearly, every month since MAY, he has changed his positions on everything and looked like he had no clue what he was going to be the next month.
At his rallies, he was drawing sparce crowds and his running mate was able to draw larger crowds which in hindsight, isnt a good idea if your trying to be president.
At any rate, the question should be asked:
What caused John McCain to lose the election?
1) no message that resonated with voters
2) his changing of positions over and over
3) the timing of a failing economy
4) an unpopular war(s)
5) slash and burn campaigning
6) his age
7) the selection of Sarah Palin
8) his tax policy mirroring GW BUSH's
9) the overall failure of GW Bush leadership
10) his percieved connections to GW BUSH
or
11) all of the above
While it may take some time for the republicans to re-define their party, it will be interesting to watch who gets the blame in the next few weeks.
On another note, it was fun to watch the FOX news panel look as if they needed to be on suicide watch when the states started to report, that was funny!! Brit Humes depression was well worth the viewing. His panel of experts tone became more somber as the night wore on..hilarious!
It is also interesting to note how INEFFECTUAL right wing talk radio was this time around. Looking at the states won and the overall imbalance of right wing radio talk shows in red states that went to OBAMA, it appears they lost their touch with listeners.
"Rush" is the BIGGEST loser of them all! All the slash and burn radio he has been promoting for the last 5 months was all in vain.
The joke is on him. Arnold Swarzenegger was right all along, "rush is irrevelant" in american politics.
It will be an interesting few weeks to say the least.
Congrats to Obama.
This will be the question for months to come. At the end of the day, what will the republicans have to change in order to ever see the White House again or control of the house and senate?
John McCain in 2000 was a viable candidate. He was truly a maverick then. The republican machine quickly made mincemeat out of his campaign and he was out.
8 years later, McCain found himself at war with Obama and the RNC and its idealogies.
Was he a maverick or a sidekick? Dont know, it seemed to change from month to month, depending on who was advising him.
At first, he stepped aside from the RNC machine and was quickly left for dead on the side of the road.(so much for the maverick thing) Then, in desperation, he fires his campaign staff and hired GW Bushes people.
With Steve Schmidt at the helm, McCain had to do a switcheroo on positions and lose the whole "maverick" thingy, despite trying to claim he was still one.
Steve threw him a bone on some issues, and then came the selection of a running mate. This decision seemed to boost him at first, but today, looking at the polls for Sarah Palin, it appears she dragged him into a landslide.
Her selection was intended to shore up the "BASE" and it did, unfortunately, it alienated the moderates of the party and drove away the independents.
Seemingly unfair, this economy which had been sending signals since 2006 that tough times were coming, McCain was behind the 8 ball merely repeating the rhetoric of the Bush Administration "the fundamentals of the economy are strong".. and this was the straw that broke the camels back.
McCain could never define himself clearly, every month since MAY, he has changed his positions on everything and looked like he had no clue what he was going to be the next month.
At his rallies, he was drawing sparce crowds and his running mate was able to draw larger crowds which in hindsight, isnt a good idea if your trying to be president.
At any rate, the question should be asked:
What caused John McCain to lose the election?
1) no message that resonated with voters
2) his changing of positions over and over
3) the timing of a failing economy
4) an unpopular war(s)
5) slash and burn campaigning
6) his age
7) the selection of Sarah Palin
8) his tax policy mirroring GW BUSH's
9) the overall failure of GW Bush leadership
10) his percieved connections to GW BUSH
or
11) all of the above
While it may take some time for the republicans to re-define their party, it will be interesting to watch who gets the blame in the next few weeks.
On another note, it was fun to watch the FOX news panel look as if they needed to be on suicide watch when the states started to report, that was funny!! Brit Humes depression was well worth the viewing. His panel of experts tone became more somber as the night wore on..hilarious!
It is also interesting to note how INEFFECTUAL right wing talk radio was this time around. Looking at the states won and the overall imbalance of right wing radio talk shows in red states that went to OBAMA, it appears they lost their touch with listeners.
"Rush" is the BIGGEST loser of them all! All the slash and burn radio he has been promoting for the last 5 months was all in vain.
The joke is on him. Arnold Swarzenegger was right all along, "rush is irrevelant" in american politics.
It will be an interesting few weeks to say the least.
Congrats to Obama.