Posted on 11/09/2008 11:36:20 AM PST by WilliamReading
PHOENIX, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain lost his bid for the White House mainly because anti-incumbent fury doomed him from the start, analysts say.
McCain made many missteps, but they didn't matter much because it was clear no Republican stood much of a chance in the 2008 election with voters overwhelmingly blaming President George Bush and the GOP for the nation's problems, The Arizona Republic reported Sunday.
McCain, who represents Arizona in the Senate, lost to Democratic opponent Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois last week in an electoral college landslide. He never stood a realistic chance, said Alberto Gutier, a longtime Phoenix Republican activist and McCain supporter.
"Everything was going to go the wrong way for the Republicans, in general, because of the negatives that President Bush had," he said. "When you combine the war, the economy, the gas prices -- it's a hell of a thing."
"Our polls and national polls showed that most people by a 2-to-1 margin blamed Bush and the Republicans more than the Democrats for getting us into the mess, and they believed that Obama was more likely to get us out of it," Bruce Merrill, a veteran Arizona pollster, told the Republic.
(Excerpt) Read more at upi.com ...
Only in the voodoo world where the Dow is god, if insane had stood against the bailout he probably would have won are made a lot better showing.
The election was over on 09/15/08.
Well, if McCain could have talked up the Dow Jones up to 12,000 or higher, I am sure he would have won, hands down.
Democrats raised millions more money starting in 2004; Republicans in the House and Senate stood by while the Iraq War became Bush’s war in the media. Bush allowed the press to descimate him AND his party. You say it was orchestrated from the beginning? Yup, but our side sure made it easy.
Next time you get a chance, look at your IRA. On second thought, better not.
And we are not forgetting any time soon!
On the contrary the base did vote for him. It as the moderate indpendents we lost.
Wake up.
It was not Romney’s religion that did this. It was Romney’s backstabbing, Romney’s viciousness.
There was innuendo after innuendo, just like Romney and his servants went after the GOP candidates.
Romney even deserted the Mass.GOP requiring Sen.Thompson to go and help the GOP against Kerry.
Some Freepers had an answer for this. See .How Much More Change Can We Stand?
“Analysts” huh?
Did these analysts also remember that McCain was actually ahead by 3% at RCP a week after the RNC convention, when Gov Palin energized the Republican base, and they had exposed what an empty suit Obambi was?
And do they also recall that the McCain's slide started with the massive stock market meltdown?
Not to mention McCain totally suspending his campaign (even as Obambi bought up all the freed McCain TV ad slots), and then going on to vote for a very unpopular bailout bill.
McCain didn't really want to win. He was very successful in that.
What they don’t say is, as a moderate who “reached across the aisle”, McCain failed to excite the Republican base, who in turn declined to write big checks. As a result he had no choice but to rely on public funding, with the results that he was vastly outspent.
Yes, I have to agree that Democrats have been brainwashing people for eight years now that GW Bush "stole" the election from Gore.
The mood of too many people in the country was that government can help.
The bailout was a bad plan. There could have been money appropriated to support good banks and also rules changes on valuing assets, write downs, etc..
Until the bad assets are off the books and people take their lumps there can be no bottom.
Likewise with the financial meltdown--the Republicans didn't try to put the blame where it belonged. The public didn't know what to think and was willing to believe the Democrats' accusation that it was Bush's fault.
Little was made of national security this year--as if our enemies are going to stop trying to destroy us just because an apostate Muslim is President. Out of highmindedness, Bush never made an issue of Clinton's refusal to take Obama from the Sudan when they offered to hand him over--and in return, had Hillary waving a newspaper headline on the floor of the Senate suggesting that he had prior knowledge of the 9/11 attacks, and Bill & Hillary getting their henchmen Ben-Veniste and Gorelick on the 9/11 commission.
In legal philosophy, there is a school of thought named “legal realism” (don’t blame me for it, or the choice of word). It essentially stipulates that a judge should arrive at his or her conclusion, then work backwards toward the legal justification.
McDole was chosen by my (cough, cough) “independent” friends here in NH. Who all curiously (not) went on to vote for Obama in the general.
The fix was in. NH needs to lose its status as first in the nation now that is pretty solidly blue. Or at least limit it to GOP/Ind only registered. Not pick a ticket.
You are right there. McCain may have had 200-300 people at his rallies
It would have been nice to have had an actual Republican on the ballot so that we could have found out!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.