Why John McCain Lost

[Life_Long_Dem!]

I know there is already a post or 2 on here about it I just had to put in my 2 cents. Here are the reasons I think he lost:

1. He is a republican...it is a bad time in this country for anyone to say they are a republican thanks to 8 years of Dubya he has tainted the GOP

2. He went from being the maverick he once was to towing the GOP line lock step with Bush and the neocons

3. He promised a clean campaign at the start with no dirty politics then turned his campaign into the dirtiest most negative in recent memory including hiring some of the same people that worked on Bushs campaigns and smeared him in 2000

4. he flip flopped worse thhan people say Kerry and Clinton did combined! and his crazy antics such as his freaky face gestures at the debates and his silly stunt of "suspending" his campaign to "rush" back to washington during the start of the economic crisis turned ALOT of people off and showed him as very unstable.

thats just a few of the things I think killed him...again just my 2 cents worth.

 

[xsited1]

I agree with what you said. It's absolutely astounding that an unknown like Obama could become President, but Bush made it possible.

One more thing. Bush is similar to an LBJ-style Democrat. The United States doesn't need to Democratic Parties. The Republicans have a lot of soul-searching to do. If they decide to continue down the same path they've been on for the last few years, they'll eventually be replaced by another party. Ron Paul and others tried to get them back on track, but they wouldn't listen. I'm hoping they are replaced by conservative and libertarian politicians.

 

[WillowTree]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVBY_SqzJtI]YouTube - You are STUCK ON STUPID[/ame]

 

[Gem]

I would add that he was never really the Republicans top choice for Presidential nominee. He was the moderates (and the left's) choice for Republican nominee. Many on the right didn't like McCain and found it very hard to "rally" behind him. He didn't bring out the evangelical voters and he didn't sway moderates because they were so thoroughly swayed by Obama.

I don't really believe that the Republicans could have picked a candidate who would have won given the circumstances of this election....but I do think it could have been closer with a candidate that more Republicans could support.

 

[Lycurgus]

I know there is already a post or 2 on here about it I just had to put in my 2 cents. Here are the reasons I think he lost:

1. He is a republican...it is a bad time in this country for anyone to say they are a republican thanks to 8 years of Dubya he has tainted the GOP

2. He went from being the maverick he once was to towing the GOP line lock step with Bush and the neocons

3. He promised a clean campaign at the start with no dirty politics then turned his campaign into the dirtiest most negative in recent memory including hiring some of the same people that worked on Bushs campaigns and smeared him in 2000

4. he flip flopped worse thhan people say Kerry and Clinton did combined! and his crazy antics such as his freaky face gestures at the debates and his silly stunt of "suspending" his campaign to "rush" back to washington during the start of the economic crisis turned ALOT of people off and showed him as very unstable.

thats just a few of the things I think killed him...again just my 2 cents worth.

McCain did a terrible job laying out and explaining plans, proposals and policies. Obama nailed them in terms of explaining, hence he sounded as though he understood the problems better and he gave off the impression that he was more organized and prepared to deal with them.

And what you posted above is all valid as well.

As for the party as a whole, true, so true, they have gotten so far away from the conservative platform.

 

[Amanda]

I think McCains biggest mistake was not being himself. I think his record of crossing the aisle was his biggest assets and instead he ran as if he was trying to convince the hardcore conservatives to vote for him.

As much as I admire Sarah Palin in many ways I don't think she was the best choice for a running mate. I think she provided a bump for a while but the media seemed determined to bring her down and she wasn't really prepared for the job of VP so it wasn't that difficult for them to make her look foolish.

And of course, it was really a bad time to be a Republican running for president.

While I'm not really very excited to have Obama as my president I do hope it will lead to some healing of our country. I think racism is one of the most dividing forces at work against us and I'm hopeful that we can move toward a better future.

 

[editec]

Two words: George Bush

 

[Xenophon]

No GoP candidate could have survived the financial meltdown, the public clearly blamed the incumbet president's party for it.

All other comentary on this is pointless, it was a unique event.

 

[editec]

No GoP candidate could have survived the financial meltdown, the public clearly blamed the incumbet president's party for it.

Yup.

The Republican party was already skating on thin ice thanks to the war in Iraq, the destruction of New Orleans, and the gradual erosion of the economy for far too many Americans.

But the financial meltdown, plus the fact that the Republican Party completely proved that they were just another insiders' BIG GOVERNMENT party when they supported the bail out, totally destroyed their chance to win this November.

 

[Mad Scientist]

You forgot to add that McCain is a wrinkly old white guy and we wanted to show that we are not racist by voting for the black guy.

 

[jillian]

You forgot to add that McCain is a wrinkly old white guy and we wanted to show that we are not racist by voting for the black guy.

Except that would be false.... because McCain was ahead until the economic meltdown when he proved himself ill equipped to deal with a crisis.

And his age only mattered insofar as the thought of palin in the white house turned off the voters you could have gotten from the right leaning dems and libertarians.

So let's not pretend racism was the reason. K?

 

[WillowTree]

You forgot to add that McCain is a wrinkly old white guy and we wanted to show that we are not racist by voting for the black guy.

didn't do ya a bit of good. they'll still plunk down the race card.

 

[Red Dawn]

You forgot to add that McCain is a wrinkly old white guy and we wanted to show that we are not racist by voting for the black guy.

Agreed. I only voted for Obama because he's black.


In fact, I think if the Party of Christian White People want to make electoral inroads into communities of color, I think the GOP and their base need to tell hispanics and african americans that Obama only won because he's black; not because he's qualified or merited. I think that will go down really well, and won't be insulting to anyone.

 

[editec]

Agreed. I only voted for Obama because he's black.


In fact, I think if the Party of Christian White People want to make electoral inroads into communities of color, I think the GOP and their base need to tell hispanics and african americans that Obama only won because he's black; not because he's qualified or merited. I think that will go down really well, and won't be insulting to anyone.

It isn't apparent to you that people on this board are openly and notoriously racist, RD?

These folks cannot imagine ever voting for a Black man, but rather than admit that, they elect instead to suggest that everyone who did vote for Obama must have cvoted for him based on his race.

They have a race-o-centric view of the world generally, and naturally their prejudices are especially obvious in this case.

Note that without exception they are all supporters of George Bush and the neo-Republican sensibilities?

The battle for the heart and mind of Americans continues.

 

[Mad Scientist]

Oh ok now I get it. We vote for him because he's black but we never admit it. Got it! Hey my son said it was time for a black president, I'm sure he wasn't the only one who thought that way.
Now that we have a black president don't you think we need a yellow or brown president in 2012? My wife is yellow and she really needs a reason to be proud of her country and I think a yellow President would be a good start.
And what's with Obama bringing all these white people into his cabinet? shouldn't his administration at least look like America? What's his problem? He's gonna' make an old fat white woman his Sec of State when there are plenty of old fat brown, black and yellow women he could have chosen from.

What a half-racist he is!

 

[Munin]

Mccain: "The fundamentals of the american economy are strong"

I think this is not the ideal thing to say in the middle of the biggest financial crisis since the great depression.

 

[SCHenrich]

he lost because he was facing a monster talent in Obama that he couldn't match. McCain had no meaningful and credible message.

 

[revolutionary]

McCain lost because he doesn't appeal to the conservatives like a republican should. He along with Bush are what I call Democrat-lites, Democrats with R's next to their names. Also the amount of young people who turned out this year were in support of Obama. It is well known that the majority of young people are liberal. Unfortunately Republicans will be plagued with Bush's name and the way he's potrayed in the media that's not good. However, it isn't all his fault. Remember Congress are the lawmakers and policy makers of our nation and they are majority leftist. Thankfully in the midst of all the darkness a new light shown. Sarah Palin. I look forward to seeing more of her.

 

[SwingVoter]

he was a horrible candidate

the flailing around when the financial crisis broke showed how inconsistent he was, which in turn exposed major flaws in his ability to lead regardless of right-left ideology