All Jokes aside, Do you think McCain had a chance if he didn't...
 

Choose Palin as his running mate? Did she kill it for him?

I wasn't very enthusiastic about him prior to that selection, but was the deal breaker for me. She did get the right wing conservatives whipped up, but she also alienated moderate conservatives in a big way.

I think he should have voted against the bailout and used that issue as a hail mary.

wouldn't have made the difference for him - but i think when the election gets analyzed more they'll say she was a negative - Palin is 'preaching to the choir', she definitely appealed to the core of the Republican party but those people were going to vote McCain anyway. They hoped she would help the ticket grab a significant number of estranged and disappointed Hillary Clinton female supporters - and it looks like that backfired - Clinton's pantsuit brigade are college educated liberal women - Palin may look like them but her views on practically everything including a woman's right to choice on abortion repulsed them and instead of sitting out this election she provoked those ladies into action for Obama.

Palin was what killed it for him for sure.

I honestly don't believe he had a chance, even if he had Ronald Reagan's corpse as his running mate. Bush killed it for any Republican this election. But, choosing Palin didn't help him. Hell, Reagan's corpse would have out debated Palin.

Most women saw through what they were trying to do within minutes of the announcement.

I think he shot himself in the foot by choosing her as a running mate. I wasnt super fond of Obama, and was leaning toward McCain. That changed the minute he chose Palin. :2 cents:

If he would not done all the mistakes he did verbally, campaign wise, so forth and then maybe he would of had a shot. Palin was just part of the iceberg. Honestly he very well could of made it damn close or had it if not for the combined effect of ever goof.

Oh and not using technology much, and depending on a past republican ground game without nurturing it at all did not help.

Bush built the coffin.. palin was the final nail in it.

But, McCain was the only Republican who could have distanced himself from Bush and even had a chance to win.

Running as the 2000 McCain and not going so negative he may have won - without Palin.

Staying a maverick, instead of being a pair of mavericks, might have been enough for him.

palin is what doomed him

he needed the independent vote and he would have gotten far more, maybe even mine had he not picked her

she polled massively unfavorable with independents and thats what cost him

If he picked Romney or someone else who could be strong on economics, I think he would have had a good shot.

Palin was a big contribution to macCain's failed bid.

I don't think he'll win either way, but without Palin she would have done a lot better. After 8 yrs of Bush it so bad even my dog can get elected.

That is partially how I view things.

1) His choice of Palin will go down as one of the worst vp choices in a long time.

2) He gave a speech stating quite emphatically that the "fundamentals of the economy are strong" and two hours later delivered another speech and basically said "omfg just kidding before, we're in deep shit, i need to suspend my campaign and fly to washington, lol :(."

3) If he voted against the bailout... er um... rescue package... he would have done a large part to get the middle of the country, where most of the population resides and would have helped him bolster his former "maverick" image.

financial crisis, palin and a horrible campaign. grandpa can retire now

No, George Bush killed it for him...but he also helped:thumbsup

if that and the economy didnt do what it did a month ago, i think it would have been 50/50 or so

The republicans are facing the same trouble a lot of "conservative" parties here in Europe. They have moved to far left to appeal to the leftish votes. They now preach a message that aren't backed by actions. You cant have a Liberal/Conservative Party that insists on more and more control and centralization

The republicans deserved to loose. They shouldn't have put Palin in that spot. They should have put someone who knew how to do the job, instead of pleasing the demographics.


There is one thing the americans should be pround of in this election - and that is the amount of new voters

McCain for the first time today in his campaign spoke like the McCain of 00. Had that McCain ran, I think he would have had a very good chance. The McCain of 00 wouldn't have ever picked Palin.

Maybe it's worth mentioning how much SNL parodied Palin and McCain and linking them to Bush over and over again. And people HATED Bush... no wonder the little rat never showed his face during the campaign.

he lost because of george bush.
he lost because people are tired of the same old.
he lost because the world thinks the citizens of this country are not in charge of their republic.
he lost because he's old.
he lost because the economy is beyond repair by his party.
he lost because his platform was a fairytale.
he lost because it was time for change.
the list goes on and on.
the people spoke.
i welcome it, even if it gets worse before better.
fuck the good old boys network. good fucking riddance cocksmokers. eat a dickup till you hickup.

Being republican, i'm so glad my party lost. I'm so fucking embarrased....

Fuckers are just plain out stupid. Their whole campaign, the Palin choice, and all their bullshit...how COULD anyone think they would win? Nothing made any sense. McCain/Palin was the best choice? WTF is wrong with people. And on top of that, watching my party step all over Ron Paul (who i would have loved to heard more from) just goes to show that they deserve everything they get.

Stupid republican fucks...karma's a motherfuckin' bitch.......

Someone posted this question at FreeRepublic and they got slammed for it. All of the responses were that Palin is the only reason they voted for McCain (these people presumably would not have voted at all otherwise).

But, yes, Palin absolutely disgusted the left and I think time will tell that the center was afraid of her becoming president.

I like Ron Paul and think he would be a better Candidate. I like his fiscal conservative view. But I think he'll can't beat Obama too even if he won the Republic nomination. His voice sounds weird. Sound like a woman moaning. Sorry I don't mean to offend Mr. Paul, but everytime he open his mouth I hear a woman moaning.

I know it will sound like a joke, but he also lost because of the tubes. OK I am being serious here. The tubes (youtube in particular) really was around to show every mistake someone makes, the shit they are saying in another area, or some skit or appearance you could of missed if you did not catch it when it aired.

He lost because of Palin 1st and Bush 2nd.

60% of actual voters had a negative opinion of her and the majority of those voters, voted for Obama. (I forget the actual number).

We all know how Bush affected everything.


I believe McCain could have overcome the Bush effect had he not picked Palin as his running mate. It would have been a much closer race and he may have even won.

It's true that Palin ignited the right-wing conservative republican base, however she failed to pull in the Hillary supporters as expected. She was just too far right.

I believe it had a lot to do with it. As a matter of fact I just closed up shop and deleted all my vids...lol

Couple things:

If he had picked an actual running mate...
If he wasn't so quick to get pissed off about shit...
If the Right Wing Republican Christians didn't LIE about the effects of a NO vote on 8.

I might have considered it...

Had he said that he would make it his first duty to put Karl Rove on trial, it would have been a slam dunk for me.

This certainly rings true for me. I intended to sit out on this one because I wasn't sold on either candidate. Palin frustrated me so much I had to vote against her.

The entire Palin thing was a HUGE mistake! But I honestly don't think there was a REPUBLICAN on the planet that could have overcome the damage BUSH has done.
But what i think really sealed it was this simple.
If McCain did NOT put ANY more research or thought into his VP (considering every sign/bumper sticker/ commercial/ news cast/ etc) is going to have MCCAIN/PALIN branding the two of them together. Then i think everyone questioned "what kind of other HUGE mistakes will this guy make as president"
Just my my thoughts........GO OBAMA!!

If the Palin we saw at the RNC (competent, knowledgeable, moderate, genuine fiscal conservative) was the true Palin, the race would have been close, if not a victory for McCain even in this Democratic year.

The only question that would remain is if he still could have managed the storm caused by the economic crash. Would his reaction have been different if he had a runningmate knowlegeable about the economy? We'll never know, but his reaction was the nail in the coffin. The timing was perfect for Obama. It was pure luck. The crash could have come a month after the election rather than before it.

The voting demographics/percentages were pretty similar to previous elections (eg. most blacks and women voted Democratic, slightly over half of whites voted Republican) with the exception of the Latino and youth vote which gave Obama a much needed advantage.

Aside from the Palin choice, this election was shaped largely by circumstances outside of each candidate's control. The economic crisis, the changes in the electorate, generational gap (Obama the young/new, McCain the old guard).

It's interesting that war veterans running for President haven't faired well in the past 20 years.

:thumbsup:thumbsup

Yeah she killed any chance he had of getting my vote. MCcain's time as in 2000 but the GOP was too stupid and nominated Bush. Back then they couldn't stand McCain now in 2008 they love him? Does that even make any kind of sense? I like republicans to explain why in 2000 McCain was a piece of shit and yet in 2008 he's your guy?

I believe this to be the number one reason.

Palin didn't help though :1orglaugh

See Plain was the female version of George Bush. So it's hard for McCain to seperate himself from Bush when his running mate reminds everyone of George Bush. I still say Romney would have been a better choice and McCain could have won.

I think what killed it for him was his decisions to get all cozy with the exact same people he had pushed away from after 2000, and in so doing gained another notch in is Maverick label that started with his rants on spending bills.

I dont think any vp pick would have turned the tide. It was like he was born again, then died again, then ran for president.. not gonna work.

I agree with you 100%
He played politics by bringing her because of her being a woman and it seemed to work the first 2 weeks until she spoke.

What amazed me was the actual vote. The popular vote was very close and that's amazing when you list the mistakes.

Bush, Iraq, economy, fat cat bankers and CEOs, Palin, the campaign and his age should of all factored in and he should of been buried. But it ended up with him being 3-4% short of getting more votes than Obama. Maybe with a decent running mate and a decent campaign he could of pulled it off.

The big question for me is why did 46.3% think him and Palin were a better bet than Obama and Biden? Now that is scary.

That is scary,why? Not sure!