Bush had the bully pulpit but failed to use it, and the Democrats walked away.
Shockingly, John McCain failed to use the most potent weapon in his arsenal — the culpability of Barack Obama and his friends in the wholesale looting of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that led to the current debacle. McCain had the goods, but wouldn't exploit them.
Also, I will add my own point:
Governor Sarah Palin out-staged McCain and McCain limited her to keep the spotlight from going off him. He failed to use Governor Palin effectively I believe, because it would make him seem less effective. When Gov. Palin was allowed to get media exposure, it was not well thought out. They let her go on taped interviews, which allowed her comments to be twisted by editing tactics. Not a smart idea. For those who get paid the big bucks to run a campaign, they should have been fired immediately for this failure.
The McCain campaign did not meet the task countering the media campaign against Gov. Palin. She was assaulted with a barage of issues from stupid things like the clothing cost to the Saturday Night Live barbs. The McCain campaign sat on their thumbs and acted as if the media war was not happening. They should have given top priority to the media destruction effort against Sarah Palin. It showed McCain campaign was not up to the task of countering the media war. If McCain thought this media war was tough, he showed that he was not up to the task of what he would experience as President. Those on his staff who let this failure happen should have been given their walking papers.
Yes, a one on one interview with all who wanted one would have corrected the issue for sure. But then she can do that tomorrow.