If McCain get the Repub nomination & Dems insist on one of the front runners

[ginchinchili]

the Democrats will be in trouble come election day. It will be too easy to paint a negative portrait of Hillary or Obama and make McCain into a strong, experienced, straight-shooting leader. The Democrats are under the misconception that Iraq has totally changed the political landscape in this country and that somehow all those people who twice voted Bush into office have changed their stripes. We shouldn't believe that Americans won't have that same kneejerk reaction to foreign policy threats to our "families and communities." Remember, 70% of the nation believe that Saddam was behind the 9/11 attacks 6 months into the Iraq war, primarily due to misleading intimations from Bush. That wasn't that long ago.

Democrats have an opportunity to nominate someone who can assuage the fears that the Republican campaign will create due to his strong foreign policy experience. The candidate I'm advocating is Joe Biden. By nominating Joe Biden we disarm the Republicans of their most reliable offensive attacks on the Democrats: weakness in foreign policy and national security. But at the same time, Biden offers a realistic path to the change Obama can only conjure up through hope and speeches. Biden has the polices, the experience to know how get them into law, and knows how to get enough Republicans to come along. His ethics and family values are more solid than anyone running, so the Republicans can forget that angle.

Democrats must remind themselves that whomever we choose for the nomination, we're stuck with; the Rubicon will have been crossed and there will be no turning back. Hillary has a lot of strong negatives and many, much needed, Independents refuse to support her. I seen several "Anybody but Hillary" bumper stickers, but none, zero, attacking any of the other candidates. Obama gives good speeches, but would be one of the least experienced candidates we've ever had. His rhetoric is grand, but he has little to back it up with. It impresses impressionable, idealistic Democrats, but the general election is a whole different beast, and the average working stiff will not be so easily impressed. If they reelected Bush, why shouldn't they vote for McCain, a Republican with strong foreign policy credentials and with an independent streak over this inexperienced, black Harvard intellectual, Obama? Personally, I don't feel like rolling the dice. Our country and thousands of lives depend on the outcome of this election. Obama ran too soon and is willing to gamble our future for his own ambitions. I'm not. Too much at stake.

It's not too late to get behind the best, most qualified candidate running, Sen. Joe Biden. I just pray that we come to our senses before it's too late.

[TwilightGardener]

1. Sorry, but Obama's youth and energy will be the best match against

McCain's doddering old war-mongering self. Biden, as much as I like him, would not be good up against McCain, for one simple reason--people aren't looking for experience as much in this election, they're looking for an inspirational leader. McCain would win the nom on the basis that he is a war hero and would draw indies in NH for still being considered a "maverick" (even though that's BS)--NOT on the basis of 20-plus years in the Senate. Unless Joe has a war-hero past that I'm unaware of, and has a big draw among indies, he's not going to stop McCain. What WILL stop McCain is that he's 71, and Obama is 46--Obama is the future, McCain is the past. Obama didn't vote for the IWR (Biden did). Obama is the one we want to contrast most effectively with McCain.

[TeamJordan23]

4. Recent Zogby poll should this too. Obama did the best against McCain, Hillary lost to him. nm

[calteacherguy]

5. Indeed, it will be a stark contrast. nt

[Inuca]

10. I am not so sure...

A couple of things, off the top of my head. Primaries are different from the general, among other things, as the OP correctly pointed out, a very different audience. We (probably/hopefully) know that the dems are looking for change and inspiration, I am not sure for what percentage of the republicans and independents this also holds true; the Huckabee surge does not speak of the kind of inspiration and chance I am interested in, and seemingly this is true for quite a few of the repubs as well. Many things can happen in 08, while both parties are likely to get "stuck" with their nominee early in the year. If things continue to "look good" in Iraq, I think that unfortunately the war and related issues will count less for a large percentage of voters, and it would definitely help McCain. Not to mention the good old and tested "be afraid, be very afraid card". It will probably be tried, and it may still work. Much as I like Obama (and I do, I find him truly inspirational), his limited experience IS a fact, and he will be attacked on it over and over and over again, especially on issues related to security and foreign affairs. And McCain is the only one of their pathetic crowd that can do it substantively.

[TwilightGardener]

14. Iraq will be an issue if it comes down to McCain and Obama--

a STARK and flaming issue. Most people, I am betting, see the Iraq war as a mistake, no matter how quiet it is over there now. In fact, I just posted a poll two days ago that said a majority of Iowa REPUBLICANS want us to leave Iraq in the next six months. This is stunning to me. McCain, like Lieberman, wants us in Iraq in large numbers for a long, long time--until he decides when we can call it a "victory". I don't think most Americans will see this as a good idea. Obama, for all his supposed inexperience, had the wisdom and judgment to speak out against the war at the very start. He has an incredible foreign policy team behind him, and the pendulum is swinging back to diplomacy, not military might (which is all John McCain values--remember, he was the nut who wanted ground troops for every conflict back in the 90's). I'm not worried about Obama--I think he'll be the perfect anti-McCain.

[BlueManDude]

17. "Issues" are irelevant. It's all about "character" and McCain has it.

the media will roll over for McCain and portray him as a great American, maverick, independent hero.

He is simply not beatable.

[Inuca]

19. Oh no, he IS beatable

I just think it would not be easy, and not a given.

[niceypoo]

2. McCain is a basket case

[OHdem10]

3. The American People see M cCain as "special". and this

will serve him well in a general election.

[gulliver]

6. I think McCain's role in the Keating S&L scandal will have ...

... new resonance after the meltdown in the subprime loan market. http://www.slate.com/id/1004633/

[iamjoy]

7. Don't Forget Richardson

Heck, I'm an Edwards supporter, but if you're worried about resumes, the one to beat is Bill Richardson.

He'd help rally the Hispanics - John McCain is moderate on immigration issues so if we pick a white man from the northeast (I know Delaware is really more Mid-Atlantic, but most Americans don't realize this) the southwest will go for McCain. Richardson is Hispanic and from the southwest, so those states like New Mexico and Nevada would be competitive.

He has leadership experience at the Department of Energy and as a Governor. He has diplomatic experience. Not just with the United Nations. He's negotiated directly with "bad guys" like Kim Jong Il and Saddam Hussein. He has legislative experience - 14 years of Congress. This can work for or against candidates as voting records are very easy to misrepresent and hold against them.

Despite that, Richardson comes across as an ordinary guy.

So, I say if we are looking at resumes, Richardson is the one we should nominate.

[saltpoint]

8. Hi, ginchinchili. There's a lot of flesh on the bones in your post and it

set me to thinking about McCain.

It looked to me a month or two ago as if he was being buried alive. His campaign staff was flying out the doors, abandoning the cranky old man to his own delusions of greatness in the White House, etc. I pictured McCain meandering through a silent, empty headquarters office, mumbling and responding to internal stimuli.

In late fall, though, there came signs of life, such as they are. Plus, there wasn't much frontrunner-type competition. McCain has come up into contention again as if risen from the dead. Cemetery soil still clings to his appendages and face, but there he is in New Hampshire, climbing back into top form. (Such as it is.)

Huckabee holds the lead for now, and Ron Paul, that libertarian gnat, looks to make a good showing in both Iowa and NH, but right now Romney should be concerned about McCain, and it's instructive for us, too.

I worry about residual support for McCain as the old "maverick," and war horse, no matter how much he's tainted that image with the Bush-hugging. If McCain were their nominee, Ohio and Virginia and Missouri suddenly become more difficult for us to carry.

Since you are a Biden supporter and since I like Joe Biden, it isn't going to surprise you to say that a debate between Biden and McCain would favor Biden. McCain has some communication problems. Not as grievous as Bush, but they're evident enough that a Joe Biden -- or a John Edwards -- or a Bill Richardson etc -- could destroy McCain in a debate. And not just on foreign policy.

We should be concerned about these kinds of demographic issues, and McCain as their potential nom makes it a tighter game than we'd face if they nominated Giuliani or Romney or Huckabee, IMO.

Good post.

[Inuca]

11. I used to dismiss McCain even early on

when he was considered the "front runner". VERY early on. When things started going downhill for him at olympic speeds, I patted myself on the back (difficult) and considered a new career in political strategery. I was wrong.

[saltpoint]

13. Hi, Inuca. Me, too. I posted a thread here on DU entitled, "Is McCain Cooked?"

Well, here's hoping he's just peaked and will go downhill from there.

I agree with the OP that we need to be aware of trends on the red team so our voting decision for the blue team are pragmatic and pack a punch.

[Timmy5835]

9. Sorry but........

McCain is too old and pro-war. He and the rest of the GOP has NO chance. The GOP ticket needs crossover votes, I don't see this happening do you?

[mrreowwr_kittty]

12. He won't make it out of the Primary. Republican voters love torture too much. nt

[skipos]

15. McCain isn't looking very good in IA or SC. He won NH in 2000, and that wasn't enough

2008 will be no different.

My money is on Mitt.

[BlueManDude]

16. Sorry to say it but John McCain is not beatable in November. He must be stopped now.

[hayu_lol]

18. Actually, he is very beatable...

His latest gaffe is considering Joe Lieberman as VP. Dunno if McCain is really interested in Joe or just floating names to see what the audience reaction is.

Another poster nailed it however--Keating S&L.

[BlueManDude]

20. He innoculated himself from the Keating scandal years ago

when he "championed" campaign finance reform. Keating is a non-issue.

[Timmy5835]

21. He MAY have but.............

He's NOT following McCain-Feingold now. Just ask Russ.

[BlueManDude]

22. Nobody cares, he's St. John McCain.