Move along, nothing new to see here....
Kudos for having the intellectual fortitude to publish the opinion article by Kathleen Parker! Her conclusion was right on target ("Religion is killing the GOP," Nov. 20).
As a moderate Republican, I would like to add my own belief as to why McCain lost.
John McCain ran a horrible presidential campaign and forgot what got him the nomination in the first place. There is an old clichà in politics: In a primary, you run to the left (Democrat) or the right (Republican). Once you win the primary and begin the general election campaign, you come back to the center. John McCain won the primary despite the old clichà -- despite not being the most conservative of the Republican hopefuls.
Instead of focusing the general election campaign to appeal to independents and moderates of both parties, he became too focused on, as Ms. Parker described, the "oogedy-boogedy branch" of his own party. He forgot he had already won the Republican nomination.
John McCain, the "maverick," "independent minded," "not afraid to cross the aisle" candidate, was after all, running against the most liberal senator in the U.S. Senate. Inexplicably, he and his handlers continued to believe the far-right would just stay home and not vote for him. He had to "solidify his base" by choosing Gov. Palin as his running mate.
Did I mention he was running against the most liberal senator in the U.S. Senate? Believing the far-right would stay home had as much credibility as believing Hillary primary supporters would not vote for Obama in the general election.
It wasn't so much the choice of Sarah Palin that hurt McCain as it was the way he and his campaign handlers used/abused her.
Using Palin as an alternating cheerleader/pitbull only lessened any credibility she may have had as a viable candidate and elevated the campaign to one of the most negative and vitriolic in political history.
It might have scored points with the "base," but was caustic to independents and moderates.
Wayne J. Clarke, Evans
Comments
Move along, nothing new to see here....
Wayne, as a caustic independent, moderate left winger, your point of view probably makes sense. From the point of view of a constitutional libertarian, your LTE looks like it was written by a misinformed, but caustic, independent and moderate left winger. NPR, CNN and the NYTimes are all poor sources of information, but they are able to trick a lot of voters. You're not alone.
Mccain lost because he didn't bombard the airwaves with ads tying Obama to Ayers, Acorn and Rev Wright. Mccain lost because he was scared if he played dirty pool he would be called a racist old white man. The Obama campaign set the race trap early on and Mccain should have faced it head on. He should have pulled out every trick in the book. His campaign acted like they were afraid to put Palin in the spotlight and it made his staff look like a bunch of scared morons. I look forward to the day when we aren't so PC that we are more afraid of hurting someone's feelings than we are of telling the truth. I often wondered how Larry, Moe and Curly would have fared in politics. Little did I know they were running the Mccain camp.
Now that I've been reading these posts for a while, I see that you have just a few standard responses, PT. If you disagree with a person, he or she is "uninformed" or "misinformed". The media, especially NPR, CNN, and the NYT are "poor sources of information", whereas YOU know the truth. You're a "constitutional libertarian" even though you believe it's OK to tell women what to do with their own bodies. You're probably against that X-rated movie rental shop, too... Yep, you're for liberties for everyone you agree with, and the rest are ignorant, lazy, immoral, etc., etc. It must be lovely to be so sure you know what's best for both the Republic and every person in it.
The same bitter losers are still fighting over the loss of a party that has failed. Failed after 8 years of "leading America" and failed miserably at the electoral college table3 weeks ago. Most of the usual pro GOP CSRA peanut gallery to dispense their opinion. It's funny hearing arguments from people who supported such failure. When will they ever be right? Pure comedy. I'll take the smarter move --chuckle and negate the advice of failed GOP supporters.
Many conservatives did stay home, about 4% Wayne. bcsk2k guess what, when Obama takes over it well be either Carter two and a hugh mess or Clinton Bush 3 and a muddle through. Obama is back peddling so quick his bick tires are smoking. It is hard for the party in power to keep the office of president. Bush 1 was an exception.
How was Bush 1 an exception, since he failed to win reelection? What the hell does Clinton Bush 3 mean? When he takes over, it will be the Obama Administration, and I'm sure he will make his own mistakes, not someone else's. One of the reasons I voted for him is that I believe he LEARNS from his mistakes. Remember what Stephen Colbert said of Dubya at the Correspondent's Dinner? "He's a man who believes on Wednesday what he believed on Monday, regardless of what happened Tuesday." You're not going to get that from Pres. Obama. And if you call it backpedaling to move somewhat to the center, that's fine with me. The times call for tapping the very best minds with the most solid experience to get things done. Change only comes when you're savvy enough to bring it about.
Man, midwest, that's brilliant. You must be, like, a research genius. Look to be tapped.
Yes it is fd, that's why I keep giving the same response to the same "espousing". Just because lefties keep making the same incorrect comments doesn't mean that the same counters aren't still effective. Their primary sources for "information" are still poor sources and will remain so until they change....not likely to happen. With uninformed and misinformed children, repetition is the counter. I don't see why the same effort wouldn't work with Dems, given the similarities.
McCain lost because he is a Rep and Obama kept calling him Bush. No way Bush could get elected. Change has arrived but it is independent of Obama it is the economy stupid. The irony-that which got him elected will likely also be his downfall. Poor Obama is screwed because no matter what he does the economy is in for a prolonged downturn and he will be stuck with the lack of a prompt turn around. I've noted several physicians tell me that many of their patients are ceasing their insurance because they believe Obama will provide free coverage. Expectations are too high.
Everyone has an opinion, but I believe McCain lost because he was tied to the economic woes that hit in Sept. The same day that Parker's article ran, the Huffington Post had one that argued the exact opposite. It's point was, if the country is moving left, why did every left leaning amendment (ex. gay marrage, in Ca no less) fail on Nov. 4th. Wasn't it Bill Clinton who said, "it is the economy stupid". Probably Carville.
High praise indeed,fd. Bless you.( ignore the woman behind the NPR sign)
mccain was a wind up sacrificial lamb to the latest sock puppet just like bob dole was against clinton. let the old geezer have his turn and get his [filtered word] kicked. it is all one party people. I loot, u loot, we all get a turn to loot, mismanage, enrich our friends, set up our children and then demand change.......CHANGE hahahhahaa what a joke usual suspects......... in 2 years when the wars drag on, the country is broke, and obongo is all mired down in scandal, the left will blame bush's old policies as the right blames clinton but eventually we will sicken of the commies and demand CHANGE back to FASCISM. no one is honest enough to say our guy sucks.
midwesterntransplant-cnn, nyt and npr are generally poor sources of information because they project one view most of the time. for u to not be aware of that just makes u look misinformed.
and wayne j. clarke from one republican to another i don't really care why u think john mccain lost. it is what it is:)
McCain lost because he is a republican, and many people vote against him to spite the Bush Administration. If he had been a Democrat, he most certainly would hav won.
I think the reason John McCain lost was simple. Republicans in the Bush administration were not conservatives. They were all about big government, bigger spending, and involved in an unpopular war. When the economy really took a downturn, there was too much for a Republican in name only to over come. John McCain and Obama were both very weak candidates. Had the opposing party been sitting in the White House, they might have been blamed for the economy and McCain may have won.
justus...and Obama's decision making skills were greater because he chose Biden? Think your argument thru before typing.
Simple and easy to understand PUTT. It does fly in the face of the left fantasy, though, so it'll be ignored. Stand by for being taxed out of poverty, maybe.
Aren't we lucky that O is so smart, intelligent and has great decision-making skills that we got biden the 35yr, human gaffe machine, plagerist Senator, as our future VP. Some "CHANGE". The blind and gullible dims remain blind and gullible.
midwesterntransplant , Bush one was an exception because he was elected after Reagan completed two terms. After eight years of a party in office the country ussually elects the other party into office. Hence Bush two won over Al Gore. With the economy under going a hugh correction it would have been very hard for any Repubican to win. Mid term we will see democrats lose seats as voters realize they don't have all the answers and things are not a bed of roses. How many seats they lose will depend on how the economy is doing and how well the Repubs sell themselves!
A penchant for gaffes can be forgiven in someone as knowledgeable about foreign policy as Joe Biden is. On the other hand, you've got McCain's pick, who babbles about Putin rearing his head over Alaskan airspace. Sheer mishegoss. And eagleeyes, I'd be willing to bet you don't read any of the publications you dismiss so smugly; you're just parroting the reactionary antiintellectualism of the religious right.
midwesteren, you may be right about eagleeyes, I don't know. But, you avoided the issue. Do you argue the fact that those pubs are leftist in general?
Right, Biden the McCarthyesque creator of being Borked which to this day is still a note of contention over the Senates role of advice and consent. Not that I agree with Bork but the Dem utterly destroyed the guy with misinformation.
McCain lost because Bush is dumb and Palin was dumb too. We don't need more dumb religious people in politics who screw things up because they are too busy worrying about other folks besides taking an internal evaluation of themselves. And Patricia, my dear, listening to Fixed News all day long will not expand your horizons. I read Bill Kristol in the NYT, but Fixed just got rid of that poor guy Colmbs who was a poor stiff next to Wild Man Hannity all those years.
anti intellectualism of the religious right as opposed to the secular intellectualism of the anti left?
Niko, as partially informed as ever I see. Good Dem.
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