It clearly was a fairly significant miscalculation, because Yeb! Bush was exactly the same sort of candidate with, such as it is, a more solid track record than She Who Must Not Be Named. 0bama must be considered a rather special case inasmuch as race became the factor that dares not to speak its name. Feminism has proven an entirely inadequate substitute in this election, outdated to begin with and thoroughly uninspiring except to a small coterie of True Believers. Who takes a "glass ceiling" seriously when its complainant has a hundred million in the bank and a term (however disastrous) at State behind her capacious belt?
It is not so much populism that informs the Trump campaign, but patriotism and iconoclasm. Either one of the latter will suffice, which explains the draw he has for the nominally incompatible Bernie crowd. Establishment statists mouthing proto-revolutionary slogans are the most laughably insincere and unconvincing candidates on the slate - here again I cite my man Yeb! - and attempting to seem cool has led a 70-year-old woman to flail mightily at a cartoon frog as a serious statement of political acumen. It's painful to watch and with painful desserts. Please clap.
I really think 2008 was McCain’s to lose. He made some serious gaffes but his loss was by a slim enough margin despite Obama’s advantages. His three big mistakes were the suspension of his campaign to vote for a massive stimulus package everybody was already voting for; muzzling Palin when she was eager to campaign; and his lackluster performance in the debates where he refused to draw any meaningful distinction between himself and his opponent.
By comparison, he pulled no punches against his primary challenger in 2010, JD Hayworth. He fought with a vigor and tenacity never displayed when he was running for President.