What one factor do you think contributed most to John McCain's loss?

[Stinky The Clown]

Poll question: What one factor do you think contributed most to John McCain's loss?

First, please don't add "All of the above". That is self evident. Each of the reasons cited contributed to his losing the election. The goal here is to see what you think was the largest single contributing factor.

Obviously, you could just vote and move on. And that's fine. But I would really like to see some explanation as to why you think what you think.

For me, the biggest single reason was Sarah Palin. She look like a hasty choice that pandered to the worst of the Republican Party, and was so clearly ill prepared to be his secretary of stupidity, let alone Veep.

But there were other reasons, too. And my take my well be based in my deep, visceral dislike of Plain and things surrounding her.

So .... what was the biggest reason he lost?




grammar edit

[yardwork]

1. I go with Sarah Palin, but for a slightly different reason than yours.

I think that if McCain had chosen Lieberman as VP they might have won. The country is not as overdosed on Republicans as rational people might expect.

Palin was forced on McCain by the religious right, who probably threatened to withhold their money and voters if he didn't go with their choice. The rest of the country rejected her.

What we're seeing is a country overdosed on the religious right.

[lisa58]

2. Palin followed by Blowing off Letterman - two decisions he didn't have to make, but did.

[DemReadingDU]

3. Other - the Economy

The day McCain got up and said the fundamentals of our economy are strong, when the stock market was going way down, that was when McCain lost the election.

[meegbear]

8. I agree ...

I think there were more than one factor that lead to him losing, ties to Bush, choosing Palin, etc. but the economy was the main factor that was against him.

[CrispyQ]

29. Agreed - the economy.

In spite of the economy & that dumb shit Palin, he still managed to get 46% of the vote. If people's stock portfolio's & 401k's hadn't taken such a hit, just a few months before the election, we could well be looking at a McCain presidency.

[begin_within]

4. Economy

[opihimoimoi]

5. GOP Fatigue.......Peeps are tired of the same ole lies and deception

whining, distraction, distorting, BS

Obama had POSITIVITY

GOP had NEGATIVITY

Difference in POLARITY...

[TlalocW]

6. I voted squirrely, and by that, I don't mean he was nuttier than squirrel poo

Although I think he is.

No, what I thought of was he kept attempting to be cute, the kind of guy you would want to have a beer with, etc. Basically, he was using the George Bush approach to get votes, but after 8 years of having the moron you'd like a beer with screwing things up, voters wanted to go with someone who actually looked intelligent and presidential and to be honest - in some of the photos I've seen - a little badass to be president.

TlalocW

[livetohike]

7. My vote is for Palin as well because it reflects McCain's

poor judgment and what I believe was his campaign's ploy to attract women voters. Why else did he wait to see who Obama chose as V.P.? I think if Obama chose Hillary, McCain would have chosen someone else - perhaps someone with strong economic policy ideas. McCain gambled and he lost.

I hope Palin disappears from the national scene because personally, I can't stand watching her.

[RaleighNCDUer]

20. I agree. Choosing Palin, in fact, exemplifies the problems as #s

4,5, and 6 - age, health and squirreliness. Out of touch, possibly a touch of dementia, and trying to play the game without understanding who all the players are.

What doth it gain a man to win the fundies, and lose the independents?

[Subdivisions]

9. Other: 'What one factor do you think contributed most to John McCain's loss?'

Barack Obama.

[Demeter]

16. Good One!

Although if he had picked anyone BUT Sister Sarah, McCain might still have pulled it off. If he weren't obviously as batshit crazy as she is.

[surrealAmerican]

27. Precisely.

We should be framing this question differently. It's not that McCain lost because of some flaw of his, it's that Obama won because of his great campaign and obvious strengths.

[Greyhound]

10. Republik OD. I, and many others, said over two years ago that the Democratic nominee had

all but a lock on the Presidency.

However, if in addition to all the other catastrophes we will have to deal with, the Democratic Party and it's leadership fails to address the still active Republik "thumb on the scale" of election fraud, we will lose seats in the mid-term, barring some miraculous turn-around of the economy.

[RB TexLa]

11. Barack Obama

[onehandle]

12. Bush. Palin made red areas redder and blue areas roll their eyes and still vote Democratic. nt

[live love laugh]

13. The fact that people PAID ATTENTION to his sycophantic self serving ways. nt

[marmar]

14. He's a Republican in a year when bird flu was more popular than Republicanism....

n/t

[FloridaJudy]

15. "It's the economy, stupid"

It's just one symptom that the Repubs had effed up just about everything they touched, but it's the one that hit most Americans where they live.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

17. The Economy By A Longshot.

I would think that's a no brainer.

Palin is no. 2.

[OmahaBlueDog]

18. It's tempting to say "Palin", but it's not true

Statistically, Veeps don't win or lose races for a candidate. Even in McGovern's case, it was the lack of leadership skill around the Eagleton fiasco, not the pick itself, that really turned the election against McGovern.

Overall, McCain ran a bad campaign. When he was in primary mode, he wouldn't shut up on stage, kept making gaffes, and wouldn't stay on point. When they remade him as talking point machine, his delivery was cool and insincere. The insistence by Steve Schmidt to continue with attack ads when it's clear they weren't working was baffling. Had McCain started with a Joe-the-Plumber type theme after the convention, and stuck with an economic theme, he might have been much more competitive. Equally baffling was his loud retreat from Michigan, but his insistence on staying in Pennsylvania.

There was also the age factor. He looked like a tired old man for much of the campaign. He tried to use that as a plus -- citing his depth of experience. However, the Palin pick undercut the entire experience argument.

All that having been said, if you want to pick one factor, it was the campaign suspension over the bailout. It made McCain appear completely unable to handle a crisis, which is the one quality Americans want above all in a President. My neighbor, a 65 year old VietNam vet and lifelong Republican, voted Obama; his comment "no matter what they throw as him, he always looks cool -- he doesn't get shaken."

McCain will probably be seen as the accidental candidate. He has never been beloved by the core conservative "base" because of McCain-Feingold and a number of comments he's made about Evangelicals. The Republican leadership clearly underestimated Evangelical push back on Romney's Mormon faith; they also were unpleasantly surprised at how bad Rudy and Fred Thompson (who was supposed to salvage this election for them) were out on the stump. Tommy Thompson, Tancredo and Hunter were never serious players.

The Republican leadership got another unpleasant surprise -- Ron Paul. He didn't get the votes, but he captured the hearts and minds of a significant segment of the party. Ron Paul's influence, not Sarah Palin's, will be the likely takeaway for them from 2008.

That left McCain as the last man standing. He had a great war record and was a household name, so why not run with that? After all, it worked so well for Bob Dole.

[milord]

19. McCain's loss

I think he lost because he was such an extreme liar and also because he 's basically stupid. It's not easy to come in at the 394th position in a class of 399, and his stupidity showed in the inconsistency of his lies.

[MarianJack]

21. I Said Palin(comparison),...

...but I think that he was always a sacrificial lamb. I don't think the rethuglicans would ever have nominated a 72 year old man and a dummy if they'd thought they had any chance of winning this election.

I also think mor people voted FOR Obama rather than AGAINST McSame.

PEACE!

[mnhtnbb]

22. I think he couldn't explain away his ties to Bush. Palin was no help, but Bush killed him.

[JackRiddler]

23. Rejection of Bush, Obama looks better (and smarter), age, Palin.

Roughly in that order. Rejection of Bush includes the economic crisis, although the latter is in reality a bipartisan production if a bit more Republican than Democrat. Age and Palin are actually speaking to the same awful fear (that she would be president, though McCain was just as much of a fool already or he would not have picked her).

[dsomuah]

24. McCain didn't lose the election Obama won it.

I take offence to the suggestion that perhaps if McCain had done things differently, maybe he wouldn't have lost. They threw everything but the kitchen sink at Obama. The attacks on Obama were far more vicious than were ever launched at Kerry. But Obama not only won, he kicked ass.

[blm]

25. Bush AND country overdosed on GOP policies. People choosing palin forget Nov2006 and

all the polls for the next two years showing the Dem nominee was headed to a big win no matter what.

The Kabuki dance shown by the corporate media was largely more to flex their own muscles and try to push their own perceptions.

[acmavm]

26. The guy was off his rocker from the get-go. He didn't have a clue

from one day to the next. And as time went on, his 'decisions' (or whomever's) got worse and worse. And Palin, we'll she's the worst of all. But he was acting like a squirrel on meth.

[lonestarnot]

28. Ending the war and rolling back tax cuts to the rich. That is what did it and already it is rumored

nothing will be done about either any time soon. Oh and the review of everything bushitler did for purposes of repeal, rescind, delouse, debrief, debushitler.