Could McCain Have Won?

A bad year to be a Republican, was there anything John McCain could have done to win the election? Not likely. Of all the Republicans running in the primary, John McCain was the best choice for the party in this electoral climate. The fact that he led in September is a testament to his strength as a candidate. But he was in a difficult position - he was running against Obama and Bush. And this proved to be too much. As I've said before, Palin did not cost John McCain this election. Her early interviews were very rough, but she performed well in the debate and finished strong with her interviews and campaign speeches. Being the VP does not allow you the freedom to truly be yourself, but as the election went on, I believe she shed some of those restrictions placed on her. No one McCain could have picked would have helped him any more than Palin did, and he still would have lost the election due to the unpopular president, the thirst for "change," and the late economic downturn.

McCain's mistake was not his summer campaign or the pick of Palin, but rather his response to the economy. McCain sealed his fate with the suspension of his campaign during the economic meltdown. He made two critical mistakes here: 1. He placed his campaign in the hands of the Senate, during an election year, thinking that this political body would pass meaningful legislation in two days to solve the economic crisis. Why would anyone place their campaign in the hands of the Congress? This was a dumb move. 2. By doing this, he came out in favor of the huge government bailout, the bailout supported by Democratic leadership but also supported and promoted by Bush. In an election where Obama was painting McCain as Bush III, McCain endorsed, defended, and promoted a massive bailout by Bush. Here McCain lost an opportunity possibly to win the election. If he had opposed the bailout, he would have distanced from Bush, while linking Obama, who supported the bailout, to Bush. Additionally, when McCain began his final attack on Obama as a big government guy, it didn't help that just a few weeks before, McCain had not only supported the government bailout, but also advocated for the further bailout of mortgages. This reinforced Obama's claim that McCain was erratic and desperate. It also put Republicans in a bad spot trying to campaign for McCain. I believe Palin was opposed to the bailout, but had to support it as VP. Others like Huckabee and Thompson were placed in awkward positions defending McCain's support of the bailout as well.

Would McCain's opposition to the bailout have won him the election? Maybe, maybe not. Obama probably still would have won, but if I had to identify the breaking point of the campaign, it was here. Obama basically voted "present" during the economic crisis and provided no leadership in what to do. Instead, he allowed McCain to seal his own fate by advocating for the government bailout. I don't mean to take anything away from McCain. He fared better than Romney or anyone else would have in this highly toxic year for Republicans. McCain is a true American hero who gave his best speech last night in concession. This was a year the Democrats should have won. And they did. So what's next? I'll post tomorrow.