" I think McCain tried to win, and I think he probably played his hand as best he could. Even in 2007, it was pretty much expected that this would be a Dem year. "
Pollsters are mentioned nowhere in your post, but John McCain is. John McCain is the one who implicitly expected 2008 to be a dem year, whether you understand what you just stated or not.
Whether you realize it or not, you've quite by accident stumbled into the truth of the 2008 election. Any of the Republicans making an honest effort could have beaten Zero. Any of them - Rudy, Mitt, Fred, even The Huckster, could have beaten him, all it would have taken would have been some effort.
Your own words in your own post tell the tale: John McCain, and by extension the Republican leadership, expected 2008 to be a Dem year, and whaddaya know, they were right.
Amazing, these guys can tell the future.
And yet you persist in giving "Fifth columnists" here at FR, which comprises far less than one percent of the voting public, credit for the loss.
So you think when I said "it" I meant McCain?