McCain will be 72 in 2008. Reagan was 73 when he was reelected in 1984. Of note, McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone.
2. He is a senator and being a govenor not a senator is the path to the White House, ie GW Bush, Clinton, Reagan, Carter etal.
Certainly the case in the 20th Century except for Kennedy and Harding. Hoover and Eisenhower never held elective office.
3. He is from a state with 10 electoral votes. GOP presidents seem to come from CA, Tx, MI etc., ie bigger states. Even Dim presidents, Clinton aside seem to come from pretty big states, GA, MA, etc. [MA was a more important state in the Electoral College in 1960 than it is now.
Reps: Eisenhower came from Kansas, a small state. Coolidge was from Vermont. Hoover was born in Iowa and grew up in Oregon. Dems: The last two Dem Presidents, Clinton and Carter came from relative small states, Arkansas and Georgia. Arkansas had 6 electoral votes and Georgia had only 10 electoral votes in 1976. Truman came from Missouri, which had 15 electoral votes.
If you look at nominees for President by the major parties, there are plenty of exceptions to the reasons you cite. McGovern, Mondale, etc.
Although the factors you listed are influential, they don't decide elections per se. The reason why McCain won't win the Presidency is because he won't get the GOP nomination. He doesn't have the required support from the GOP base. Simple as that.
The last two Dem Presidents, Clinton and Carter came from relative small states, Arkansas and Georgia.
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Actually I believe in 1976 as today GA was one of the minimum 11 or so states to elect as it is today. I would not call a state that was one of the minimum number of states it takes to get 270 electoral votes, relatively small.