The biggest mistake of McCain's campaign was:

[Liberal_in_LA]

Poll question: The biggest mistake of McCain's campaign was:

Late night poll!

on edit... recall that McCain was behind Obama in the polls BEFORE Palin pick and BEFORE economic collapse. McCain only moved in the lead, for a hot minute, when Palin wowed everyone at the convention.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. His biggest mistake?

RUNNING...

[texasleo]

2. Palin

[FVZA_Colonel]

3. While I disagree with the politics of many of them, there are a number of very accomplished

Republican women who he could have picked, and wouldn't have been an anchor around his neck like Palin.

[WeDidIt]

38. Kay Bailey Hutchinson would have been DEVESTATING

but she's pro-chooice, so the nutters would have screamed.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

62. I really thought it was going to be Kay Bailey from the beginning.

I was shocked that he went with Palin if he were to choose a woman. The nutters would've taken Hutchison even being pro-choice, because she's dyed in the wool conservative on just about everything else.

[K Gardner]

66. I think the polls would be a bit tighter now if he'd picked Romney, given the

economic crisis.. and that IS something Romney could at least talk about.

[niceypoo]

4. His biggest mistake was running as a Bush republican

He should have stuck to what he ran on in 2000. Instead he ran as the opposite of himself, thus his endlessly mixed messages.

[Frumious B]

42. I agree. He never made a real attempt at expanding his coalition beyond the base.

He won the nomination, in part, based on his reputation as a "different kind of Republican" and a "maverick". His best shot was to be seen publicly standing up to the GOP base and "religious right" and then building himself a centrist coalition of disaffected "RINOs", "DINOs" and independents. McCain claims he's a "Teddy Roosevelt Republican" and then largely hews close to the Bush line. It's inexplicable when he could have run a very effective "We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore!" campaign. His animosity towards the media, who have traditionally been his allies, hasn't helped him either.

[wileedog]

64. I really think he won the nomination by process of elimination

Rudy, the cross-dressing mayor of NY never had a prayer, Romney was clearly a "northern liberal" pretending to be Conservative, Paul was anti-war, Huckabee had the God card but is actually fairly liberal as well economically. Fred Thompson was death warmed over and "Illegals!" wasn't enough to get guys like Tancredo and Hunter into the mainstreeam.

Honestly, I really think McCain was just the guy that every individual faction in the GOP found the least offensive.

I do agree with those that say he lost because he moved away from his own brand and tried to re-cast himself as a Ronald Reagan, which nobody believed for a moment, but Palin was the proverbial iceberg that started the catastrophe IMO.

[CADEMOCRAT7]

43. At the core, I think this is it.

If he ran as in 2000, it would have separated him from Bush, he could have picked who he really wanted for VP, and ran a campaign of building a new Repub ticket, a new brand that is bi-partisan. It was a huge mistake for him and for the brand to go the way of the "Bush" base that, of course, is a dying bred of the past. They missed a big chance to save and reinvent their party.
Our gain, their loss. I guess that is what was written in the stars.

[nsd]

5. His erratic response to the financial crisis.

I think the Palin pick was worse, but the campaign suspension gimmick was pretty bad.

[Liberal_in_LA]

6. ooohh...I forgot that one!

[WA98296]

11. Palin first, but this was the nail in the coffin I believe.

[The Wielding Truth]

13. This was his 3am phone call, and he acted like a 5year old.

[smoochpooch]

16. Yep, "The fundamentals of our economy are strong" was the end. n/t

[Berry Cool]

44. He would have looked better if he even just admitted that that was a stupid thing to say

and that he hadn't foreseen the financial crisis. Why not just admit it, get it over with, and move on to deal with it? People appreciate someone big enough to admit he was wrong and move on.

Instead, he continued lying and trying to cover his tracks, insisting that when he said "fundamentals," he was referring to "the American worker," and if you didn't believe that was what he meant, well then, you were trying to impugn the reputation of every hard-working person in AMERICA, and he just wasn't going to stand by and let you and the Democrats do that!

In 2004, people still used to buy that Rovian bullshit. This year, it's more like, "Cut the crap, Gramps. We know what you meant. You were ignorant, and you got blindsided. Not good. It's never good to be blindsided by a crisis, but even if you are, what really counts is how you deal with it. How are you going to deal with it?"

He wasted a lot of time trying to save face and saying, in essence, "But-but-but I DIDN'T get blindsided" that he could have devoted to actually dealing with the crisis, if only he'd just apologized for his blindness and gotten it out of the way.

[lelgt60]

68. So true...just admitting a mistake would be the savior of many a politician...

There's just something in the average politician's makeup that won't permit: "I was wrong", "I'm sorry", "My bad".

One of the reason's I like Obama is that he isn't so damed cock sure about everything. He's probably the smartest person in the room, but he's so smart he realizes that sometimes the best ideas aren't from the smartest. So he actually listens.

That's one of the reason's he so popular. People sense the wisdom of not being so damned cock sure.

[gemlake]

33. I agree. That was my "other"--suspending the campaign,

saying that he wouldn't debate, then debating; skipping Letterman, only to do Couric; against the bailout, then claiming credit for it; economy is strong, then it's collapsing; condemning the bailout bill for earmarks, then signing it. In the space of 10 days or so, he effectively ended any chance of winning.

[alwysdrunk]

35. This is the one

He could have made through even with Palin if he would have showed some judgement on this. This made him look like a Confused Old Man running with a dingbat

[JI7]

7. Palin

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. For a few days after the repub convention we were scared... you have to admit

[vaberella]

10. I wasn't. The moment her name was mentioned she was being bashed as a pick. n/t

[Mojambo]

19. I remember getting into an argument with my roomie the day she was picked

He was absolutely terrified that it was a game changer.

My response was short and simple. McCain just torpedoed his entire campaign.

[vaberella]

23. Basically. The moment her name was mentioned people were like "Hell No"

People meaning Repubs. Only the crazy fundies thought she was the best choice. The ones that didn't like him or the intelligent ones hated the lady. They knew automatically she would not and could not be sold nationally.

[Berry Cool]

45. Back then, I called her "the Baby Ruth bar in the swimming pool of DU"

and I think it's safe to say I have turned out to be right (time out for shameless backpatting :blush:).

She freaked out a lot of us when she first appeared on the scene, thinking she was going to be a gamechanger, but she turned out to be more like the gift that keeps on giving--to Dems.

I just hope she doesn't come back in 2012 on her own--this time, well tutored ("Educating Sarah"?) and ready. If she does, THEN she'll be another freaking Reagan. I'd rather see her just slink away to Fox News with her tail between her legs, get her own show and be happy with it.

[Liberal_in_LA]

57. a lot of dems were terrified. Glad we were wrong

[Kind of Blue]

48. I think you're kidding, right? My gut instinct was that she is an

incredibly nasty person and Dems are ready for nasty. My other thought was that Asshole dared to think other women would vote vagina. And then immediately the news was about her abuse of power issues, the flood of news from Alaska about her governing, her charging victims for rape kits, de-funding healthcare for kids, animal killer for profit, news from African-American Alaskans, refusing interviews, incoherent interviews. My God, it just never ends. I knew Dems would have a field day with her so scared I wasn't, just disbelief that we have to waste so much energy on such a ridiculous pick.

[Liberal_in_LA]

58. No not kidding. search for the news articles of the days after the convention... Palin Lovefest

[bunkerbuster1]

50. We were?

I sure wasn't.

There are limits to what Americans will accept. Someone utterly unvetted, unheard of outside of wingnut circles? I saw the announcement it as a cheap-ass stunt to step on Obama's historic nomination speech afterglow; I will admit to not having the foresight to know that every day of McCain's remaining campaign would consist of nothing but cheap-ass stunts.

[vaberella]

9. When Palin came into the mix it was like every minute was a new scandal.

Couric destroyed her, then SNL turned her into ashes...there was nothing to salvage after that. She's a cyclical problem. If it was Romney he would have had a chance...his pick was the first move of eratic behaviour which has not stopped since and it's been a steady avalanche from then.

[Liberal_in_LA]

12. seeing the rabid racism of the GOP base it's hard to imagine Romney or Jidhal as VP

The mask of civility came off the GOP base this election. Romney(mormon) and Jidhal (indian) would have turned off many in the GOP.

[vaberella]

22. Ahhh...Jindal was a turn off when he was an exorcist. I didn't know Romney was mormon.

You're right on that. They're the Black Sheep of the Christian faith.

[amborin]

14. other---namely, being Bush on steroids, and being so angry and whacko in the debates

[Wetzelbill]

15. Other: I think his biggest mistake is just being overall out of touch

He's in such another world that he didn't know what the price of gas was last summer. He had to read the price of milk off of an index card. He didn't know how Social Security worked. He's had myriad foreign policy gaffes, such as mixing up Sunni and Shia and not knowing the difference between a tactic and a strategy. When Russia and Georgia went to war he sounded like a moron by proclaiming that "We are all Georgians now." He has confessed ignorance of computers and the internet. He also obviously doesn't understand technology like say youtube, because he'll lie or make a gaffe and then he'll deny it and it will be up on youtube for thousands if not millions to view for themselves. He said 5 million was the cut off point for being rich. He didn't know how many houses he owned. He thought he could pick Palin and women would flock to his campaign, and that they could pull the old fake image thing on the American people. And also with Palin, at the very least, he thought she'd shore up his base and that would be good enough for him and he could move on and work towards moderates. He never realized all she could do was appeal to the narrowest true believers and alienate everybody else. He consistently said that the fundamentals of the economy were strong, when they obviously weren't. He thought he could fake suspend his campaign and grandstand his way to looking like a leader during economic crisis. He published an article talking about deregulating the health system like we did the banking system. He believes using the phrase "The Surge" for everything will resonate with people. He thought he could win a debate by showing outright anger and disdain towards his opponent. And on and on and on.

[amborin]

18. that medley would make a good campaign ad, one major red flag after another

[Mojambo]

17. Palin sunk him so bad

Set aside the fact that she's an ignorant, incompetent, corrupt, socially radical nitwit.

He had just spent months and months hammering away that experience matters over every other consideration. One can't understate just how fundamental that message was to his campaign. It was EVERYTHING.

In an instant he completely demolished the single reason why anyone would consider voting for him. And worse yet, took Obama's only remaining political weakness off the board.

It was probably the single greatest Presidential campaign mistake of the last 50-100 years. That may sound like an overstatement, but I don't think it is.

[MrModerate]

20. Not even addressing the issue of whether he's fit for the office he's running for . . .

If he had made *any* sober, reasoned choice for veep we'd be looking at an entirely different election now. Unfortunately for him (fortunately for us) he was convinced he needed to blow Obama out of the water, fearing (rightly) that the DNC would be a smash success. And so the Palin freakshow was hatched.

Why they thought the Palin bounce would last longer than an eyeblink is a mystery, and goes back to the serious question of McCain's flawed judgement and dangerous impulsiveness.

Palin is absolutely abhorrent to all thinking people, and that fact has leaked out even to non-thinking people. More than any other single mistake, Palin has doomed his campaign.

Presuming their voter suppression and black-box techniques don't work this time.

[intaglio]

21. Palin - the gift that keeps on giving

[Mojambo]

25. You know what's great about the Palin pick?

Her immense popularity with the fundies and unpopularity in other conservative circles sets up a potentially quite bloody battle for control of the Republican party over the next few election cycles.

It's gonna be real ugly as that party fractures. That's VERY good for our side.

[uponit7771]

40. Yeap, expect reThug civil war between fiscals and fundies

[Kind of Blue]

49. Popcorn!!! Can't wait for the full-blown show to begin.

:popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn: :popcorn:

[Yukari Yakumo]

24. Picking Palin

He ran on "Experience" up until then. Then, in picking Palin, completely and totally undermined his campaign's message. He never had any kind of a consistent message or a theme ever since. He choose "Country First" as his slogan, but he never explained why nor was it a consistent part of his campaign. It's as if a bus suddenly veered of the road and tumbled, flipped, and spun down a steep cliff.

[rebel with a cause]

26. Other,

His biggest mistake was that he ran against Obama, plus he ran negative against Obama. When you are running against a person as likable as Obama, it is better not to go negative. The only people he attracted were those that are racist and religious fanatics.

[Awsi Dooger]

27. Winning the nomination in a pro-Democratic cycle

Given his age he couldn't wait but this cycle was destined to reject a Republican. McCain would have had a huge chance to beat Gore in 2000.

[Drunken Irishman]

32. McCain would have defeated Gore.

Unfortunately, the race was only tight because people questioned Bush's experience. It was a lot like this election, with the voting populace wanting change, yet not certain they could trust the green behind the ears candidate. Of course, Gore was aided by a robust economy and a country at peace with the world, but Bush's gaffes (remember when he said Gore wanted to make Social Security a federal program?) made the race closer than it really should have been. Gore ran a terrible campaign post-convention and while I admit he did extremely well in the final days, it wasn't enough. Had he gone up against McCain, I think he would have lost by 10 points nationally and Florida would not have been an issue.

The problem with McCain today is he's nothing like the McCain eight years ago in ideology, appearance and most of all, intelligence. You can really tell McCain is being impacted by his age.

[Undercurrent]

28. He is such an

angry, old, sickly, petty, corrupt, little man, who is unfit to be president who became power obsessed, and it consumed him. He is now nothing but a grotesque, pathetic Gollum.

Because he is so subsumed by his lust for power, he has run the most despicable of campaigns.

Tactically he failed miserably. Running a primary election campaign during the general. He should have shored up his base during the primaries, but he didn't. Then, even though there was plenty of time after he secured the Republican nomination, and before Obama became the Democratic nominee, he did nothing. Zero. Zip. So by the time the general election campaign began his base was very crumbly, and he was forced to run to his base. You can't win a general election running to your base.

[endthewar]

29. Not throwing Bush under the bus as soon as he won the nomination

[depakid]

30. Simple- and it happened well before the campaign

[Indi Guy]

31. Hello?!...

[Princess Turandot]

34. The way he behaved during the first debate, by a hair..

it was the first time that he and Obama were together in public, enabling the voters to compare the two of them, on many different levels. A huge number of people watched it, many of whom were being exposed to Obama for the first time. When McCain let his animosity towards Obama control him, he not only failed to display his supposed expertise on his best topic (foreign affairs), he came across very badly on a personal level. He gave Obama the opportunity to display his superior demeanor and intellect, a rather stark comparison. He also wasted an opportunity to regroup after the bail-out emergency stunt.

It made people actually dislike the valiant war hero rather than just his policies, and they did not have to feel in the least badly about that.

[Liberal_in_LA]

56. ahhh..another good choice..debate performance

[snake in the grass]

36. Being a Republican.

[snake in the grass]

37. edited because of double entry

[RBInMaine]

39. THE CAMPAIGN IS NOT OVER YET ! DON'T GET COCKY ! KEEP FIGHTING !

[workinclasszero]

41. Palin

His stupid pick of Palin as VP exposed McCain terrible lack of judgment and turned many republican conservatives against the ticket.

After all her gaffs and controversies she remains a net drag on the ticket and an albatross around McBush's neck.

Palin is the gift that keeps on givin!

[Arkansas Granny]

46. Palin. She probably had as much to do with uniting Democrats as

anything else that has been done during this campaign.

[Liberal_in_LA]

54. That she did.

[truthisfreedom]

47. The Parah Salin Blush Fund and her not knowing her role as VP (In charge of the Senate? Come, now,

Governor!) are just THIS WEEK'S latest screw-ups.

She's a power-hungry bitch, and it shows. SHE'S UPPITY!

[rug]

51. Running as a repubican after 8 years of Bush.

[seabeyond]

52. three hours into that friday morning learning who palin was, here on du, i knew it was the biggest

gift the repugs and mccain could have given us. and as angry as i have been at the choice and palin herself, i would not have wanted any other vp to run against.

[Liberal_in_LA]

55. I have to admit I was scared.. the media was treating her like God had come to earth in a fancy suit

and heels.

[seabeyond]

60. yes.... but then again, they nor the mccain camp had vetted her and didnt have the crap we had

within just a couple hours.

i guess if i was watching media instead of reading up on her at du, i would have thought the same.

i hear ya

[Doremus]

53. He lost it the day he chose her.

The biggest mistake Repubs made was making Geritol Man their nominee.

His biggest was choosing a piece of cardboard for a running mate.

[Willo]

59. McCain has been making mistakes since the primaries, but Palin was his biggest

followed by how he handled the financial crisis.

[TheDonkey]

61. There are SOOooo many mistakes that McTroll made but the worst was Palin.

[NoGOPZone]

63. Running nt

[RichardRay]

65. Other - Declaring himself a candidate. n/t

[JimWis]

67. Other and all of the above. His mistake was running first of all,

then running the worst campaign I have ever seen. And being under some delusion that he would win easily.