I notice that McCain is:
old compared to obama
Can’t speak well
Is hated by his own party (although not the cross over voters)
Seems mentally unstable
Obama has major strengths compared to McCain.
Umm so how did McCain win the nomination? Are republicans throwing the election to BHO, like they did during BHO’s senate campaign (Where Ryan quit and Keyes ran a joke of a campaign)?
It seems suspicious –
McCain won the nomination by winning a majority of delegates in the primary process.
The national parties no longer choose their candidates through shady dealings amongst mustache-twirling power-brokers in smoky back rooms. For one thing, twirlable mustaches have long since gone out of style, and you can’t smoke indoors anywhere these days.
McCain seems to me more like a Republican John Kerry. IOW, the candidate they ended up with because he was everyone’s 2nd or 3rd choice rather than anyones’s favorite. Someone who wasn’t really exciting or inspiring or even novel. Just a bunch of “Oh, OK I guess” from the delegates.
You look back now and say, “Who in the hell thought Kerry was a good candidate?” I suspect the same will be said of McCain in 4 years or so.
When (hopefully) he’s running for reelection?
Moving thread from IMHO to Great Debates.
[MOD HAT ON]
Moving thread to Great Debates, where political discussions live… (oops - I see I was beaten to the punch)
[MOD HAT OFF]
And Obama’s young compared to McCain. Stunning insight you have there.
And we know that being an extraordinary public speaker is a priority to the Republicans because of our current president.
This is a ridiculous statement. All those Republicans who voted for him in the primaries hate him? Which unbiased poll did this information come from? Did you place this post in IMHO instead of GD because you thought you wouldn’t be asked for citations?
Please post a copy of the medical diagnosis you base this on – or alternatively, your credentials for making this determination.
Very true. Of course, McCain has major strengths compared to Obama, too.
By gathering the support of his party and getting the most votes in the primary elections, just like any other Presidential candidate from one of the major parties.
Yes, I’m sure that Republicans have been holding huge secret meetings all across the country deciding that they’d rather have a Democrat in office.
Was this actually a serious question?
I don’t think that, but I can understand how one might. The next President will inherit the godawful mess that Bush has created, the situation will be “challenging”, like cleaing the Aegean stables with a toothbrush would be “challenging”.
But no.
If you win the presidential election, you get to run the country for four years. What possible reason would there be for throwing it? Gambling?
PaddyPower.com is offering 4-11 on Obama and 2-1 on McCain. Unless all the Republicans locked in their bets early, this is not looking like a good strategy.
Now, if some secret power broker knows that there is a reason Obama cannot win, and therefore McCain MUST win, it would make sense to portray him a poorly as possible, bet heavily on McCain at long odds, and clean up in November.
It wasn’t exactly the world’s most competitive candidate field. I’m still impressed by how fast Giuliani bombed, once the voters got to see him in person. Romney was Plastic Man. Fred Thompson put everyone to sleep. Huckabee might’ve been a better choice, but he’d have come with some serious liabilities of his own.
And it wasn’t like there were outstanding candidates who sat this one out.
McCain was really about as good as it got for the GOP this cycle.
They’re not throwing it, they just know that their chances aren’t so good this year.
So they throw in a longshot/wildcard and see what happens.
-Joe
Was there any Republican that sat out this year that could’ve run, but may have put it off for four years because of how poorly the Republicans are viewed right now?
I admit to being pretty ignorant of the nuts and bolts of politics, but I can’t think of any stand out popular Republicans that didn’t run this year. Where are the Republican superstars?
Chuck Hagel? Of course, his somewhat sane views on the Iraq war made him poison within the party.
Well, obviously, if he’s running for reelection, my post and this whole thread are moot points.
Things can change, of course, but it ain’t looking good for ol’ John
First off, Ryan quit in June (the party leaders convinced him to quit) because he was wrapped up in scandals. Second, Obama was so far ahead in the polls and fund-raising after Ryan dropped out that no legitimate candidate wanted to run. Keyes offered to put his own money into the campaign and didn’t get into the race until August. Without Keyes’ money, the Republicans might have lost by 80 points instead of 50.
Interesting hypothesis. Whoever is the next president inherits a big MESS! There is likely to be an economic recession, and inflation is coming back. IRQ is still a problem, and the USA hasn’t a clear path toward energy policy: if the coming winter is a cold one, look for massive distress.
Still, it could be (I hope so) that Bush’s gamble could pay off…maybe the ME will quiet down, and oil prices drop 9if Iraq regains a 4 million BBL/day production. never say never1
Nitpick: Augean.
There are a few out there. There’s the governor of Alaska, and if some little provision in the Constitution gets chucked, a governor in California.
It’s a natural process. Like evolution, it only looks like it happened by design in retrospect. Maybe some great Republican candidates decided not to run because their chances wouldn’t be too good. Maybe the Republican primaries failed to generate a lot of interest because the party is in disarray. But it’s certainly not like some group of Republicans, large or small, got together and decided to throw the election.
Jeb Bush.
Oooh, Good One! 