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Why
McCain-Palin Lost Election 2008
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There is no doubt John McCain will lose the presidential election.
He has thrown victory away through a series of bizarre decisions,
campaign missteps, and erratic behavior.
McCain can't be blamed for President Bush, though they do
belong to the same party. Bush will go down in history as one of
the worst presidents in the postwar era. McCain, whether he likes
it or not, is tarred by Bush's brush.
The principled maverick, who backed immigration and campaign
finance reform, morphed into a nasty attack dog under the
short-sighted guidance of Karl Rove protege Steve Schmidt.
McCain's hot then cold, attack then retreat, campaign then
suspend, terrified voters, making them wonder whether a McCain
presidency would be as muddled and thoughtless as his bid for
power.
To cap it all, he named a newbie governor as his running mate.
After spending about five minutes enthusing America with her small
town brashness, it became obvious she was a dud. No brain, no
experience, and values straight out of the ark, hardly what's
required to guide the nation through international economic crisis
and war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Leading Republicans such as Charles Fried jumped ship,
endorsing Obama, who they say as a more serious, stable, and
intelligent candidate.
History will be made. America will elect its first African
American president. Obama has run a superb campaign. We wish him
well over the next four years.
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PREDICTION:
Sarah
Palin's concession speech grudglingly congratulates Barack Obama,
throws blame at the media, barely mentions John McCain,
and looks forward to 2012.
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WHY McCAIN LOST: Above, Dick
Cheney. Right, Steve Schmidt and John McCain. Below, in order,
Donald Rumsfeld, Paul Wolfowitz, and Karl Rove. Sarah Palin in her
$150,000 outift and, middle, the Wall St. meltdown. |
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McCain the maverick stumbled to
defeat |
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John
McCain, the honorable maverick, has run a stunningly inept
campaign. He won the primaries by appealing to independents, at
which point he appealed to many Democrats. Fast forward to Steve
Schmidt taking over the campaign, and McCain became nasty and
erratic. The attack ads on Obama were out of character, as was his
choice of rogue running mate Sarah Palin. With Wall St. crashing,
scandal-ridden Palin dressed in $150,000 outfits, the wheels were
the Straight Talk Express. |
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| Troupe
of Clowns
Leading Conservatives, who should
have known better, let their hormones get the better of them on a
cruise to Alaska, where they met and fell in love with Sarah Palin.
Back in Washington and New York, they began pushing Palin as VP material. Bill Kristol called
Sarah Palin
his "hearthrob". Michael Gerson of The Washington Post
thought she was "a mix between Annie Oakley and Joan of
Arc". Fred Barnes offered the silly notion that Palin is
"smart". |
Above: Bill Kristol
fell for, or was hoodwinked by, Sarah Palin on a cruise to Alaska.
He, Fred Barnes, Michael Gerson and Rich Lowry came back to the
big city singing Palin's praises. More predictably, Dr. James
Dobson, top right, evangelical extremist, backs Palin, as does
conservative talk show host Sean Hannity.
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| Mission
Unaccomplished: Bush and McCain are peas in a pod. McCain
can't distance himself from Bush's disastrous record and his
abandonment of core Conservative values. |
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| WHO'S
LAUGHING NOW, SARAH PALIN?
Barack Obama wins the presidency in
a landslide victory, condemning the Republicans to years in the
political wilderness. After eight years of shambolic Republican
rule, the presidency is now in the hands of a good-hearted liberal
with a sharp brain.
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| PALIN'S
SCANDALS: It hasn't helped John McCain that Sarah Palin has
been surrounded by scandal since he picked her: Bridge to Nowhere,
Troopergate, nutty Kenyan pastor Peter
Muthee; her kids' travel at state expense; the disastrous
Couric interviews; $150,000 on
clothes; her daughter's pregnancy; the dubious oil pipeline deal. |
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Conservatives who
kept their heads and resisted McCain
For
more info go to Republicans For Obama
Not
all Republicans were seduced by Sarah Palin. Many saw her as a
risky choice, a dimwit totally unprepared to stand in as
president. They include Colin Powell, former Sec. of State,
Christopher Buckley of the National Review, and Charles Fried,
Harvard Law professor and Solicitor General under Ronald Reagan.
All three of the Republicans endorsed Obama.
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Charles
Fried, Republican backing Obama
William Weld
has endorsed Obama |
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Fried: "I suspect that there are a great many things that
Obama believes and will do with which I will disagree -- starting
with his judicial nominees, but in a time of economic and foreign
policy crisis I found the risk of promoting to the presidency a
person as ignorant and inexperienced as Sarah Palin -- natural
political talent though she is -- unacceptable."
Lincoln Chafee: "As I look at
the candidates in order who to vote for, certainly my kind of
conservatism was reflected with Senator Obama, and those points
are that we're fiscally conservative, we care about revenues
matching expenditures, we also care about the environment, I think
it's a traditional conservative value to care about clean air and
clean water."
Colin Powell: Barack Obama "is
a transformational figure. He is a new generation coming
into the world -- onto the world state, onto the American stage,
and for that reason I'll be voting for Senator Barack Obama."
Joel Haugen: "I believe in
putting nation before party and my first priority is following my
conscience with regard to what is best for America... I have
a huge amount of respect for John McCain, but I believe that he
has more of a cold war mentality."
Arne Carlson: "The choice of
Governor Sarah Palin as a running mate, and the resultant shallow
campaign based on fear and suspicion, looks frighteningly similar
to the politics of Karl Rove."
William Weld: "It's not often
you get a guy with his combination of qualities, chief among which
I would say is the deep sense of calm he displays, and I think
that's a product of his equally deep intelligence." |
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More Republicans
For Obama
Lowell Weicker: "At
issue is not the partisan politics of two parties, rather the
image we have of ourselves as Americans. Senator Obama brings
wisdom, kindness, and common sense to what is both his and our
quest for a better America."
Jim Whitaker: "If
we are as a nation concerned with energy, then our consideration
should be a national energy policy that is not predicated on crude
oil 50 years into the future. We need to get to it, and I think
Barack Obama is very clear in that regard."
Jackson M. Andrews:
"Barack Obama is a thoughtful visionary leader who as
President will end the decline of American law, liberty, and
fiscal responsibility that are the hallmarks of the extremist
policies of the current Administration, now adopted by John
McCain."
Susan Eisenhower:
"Given Obama's support among young people, I believe that he
will be most invested in defending the interests of these rising
generations and, therefore, the long-term interests of this nation
as a whole."
Larry Hunter: "I
suspect Obama is more free-market friendly than he lets on.
He taught at the University of Chicago, a hotbed of
right-of-center thought. His economic advisers, notably
Austan Goolsbee, recognize that ordinary citizens stand to gain
more from open markets than from government meddling."
Scott McClellan:
"From the beginning I have said I am going to support the
candidate that has the best chance for changing the way Washington
works and getting things done and I will be voting for Barack
Obama and clapping."
David Friedman:
"I hope Obama wins. President Bush has clearly been a
disaster from the standpoint of libertarians and conservatives
because he has presided over an astonishing rise in government
spending."
Wick Allison: "I
made the maximum donation to John McCain during the primaries,
when there was still hope he might come to his senses. But I
now see that Obama is almost the ideal candidate for this moment
in American history."
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