It was doomed when Senator McCain suspended his campaign, flew back to DC, and voted for this stupid bailout, the "only" solution to this financial crisis. That killed him with the fiscal conservatives.
Last week, the former McCain aide told a group of gay Republicans it was critical for the party to seriously weigh support for same-sex marriage.
Look, I'm more liberal than most here on this issue, but I can not support that at all. Leave this issue to the state legislatures and keep DOMA. 10th Amendment.
Well, I don’t think any significant number of conservatives ended up NOT voting for McCain over Obama - certainly not enough to sway the election.
However, McCain’s performance during the credit crisis frittered away an opportunity for him to offer a “choice, not an echo” to Obama’s economic policies. What we got was a big kumbaya moment and a massive bailout.
Who knows what would have happened with the election if McCain took principled opposition to TARP. It may not have changed the outcome, but it certainly would have crystallized the difference between the two candidates and the two parties on economic philosophy.