McCain’s dopey advisors, who had him supporting bailouts and making a big production about halting the campaign was the key to his loss, in my estimation. McCain should have sailed in and tried to stop the bailouts. Goodness knows, the people didn’t want them. If they passed anyway, he could still have claimed to be against and hammered the other guy with it. I was out in Spokane when that was playing out, and the 4 other Republicans at my worksite all opposed the bailout, and all were left scratching their heads at McCain’s reaction. It was a moment when McCain could have turned the tides.
Even if he had gone to Washington to support the bailout fully it would have been better than the way he handled it by cancelling a TV appearance to "dash" back to DC, but then showing up on another TV show at the same time as his cancelled appearance. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Also the entire Congress could have used a big dose of Angry McCain for piling up the pork on the bailout. It was like he came to a fork in the road and ran into the sign in the middle.
RE :” McCain should have sailed in and tried to stop the bailouts”
Even if the issue backfired on him if he opposed it he would have went out standing for something. But no he acted cowardly and snuck in and voted without a speech, voting FOR GWB/Pelosi plan, then claimed 1) he was Maverick, 2) he was against earmarks(who cares?) and 3) he is separate from GWB, and 4) he didnt like bailout.
He looked SO phoney, it was over by October, which was just as well. He would had made sure democrats still had congress in 2020.
And then sailed back out to NOLA and told the watching world what his stand was. The problem was, he didn't know what the heck to do, and didn't have a stand, so he turned back into a weaselly senator and went along with the flow. He blew his chance of a lifetime in about 48 hours of dithering incompetence.