Who amongst us would not enjoy being a fly on the wall in the McCain Camp today?
It's a well known fact, and one he readily admits, that Johnny has a temper and he ain't afraid to use it. So given the events of the last 24 hours, I've been wondering what wonder drug the Republicans are slipping into his frappachinos, to try and head off the Hulk/Nathan Jessop blow up that us lefties would hand over our life savings to witness.
Some basic facts:
- GOP national poll numbers are tanking.
- The Alaskan rabbit he pulled from a hat a few weeks ago has turned out to be a serious drag on the ticket.
- The swing states are swinging to Obama.
- John screwed up in a humiliatingly public way, in his attempt to 'rescue' the US from financial troubles.
- The economy is all anyone cares about - and John's plan is to cut earmarks. Eh?
- His honorable campaign pledges have gone completely by the wayside.
- His attempts to paint Obama as the boogieman have been tried before, and they failed then.
- He wants to talk about pastors and 60's radicals. Americans want to talk about how they pay their bills.
- His attempts to talk about 'association' have been completely derailed by his own corrupt past.
- It looks like he's failed in his final attempt at being elected President and proving himself to Daddy.
In the last debate, John was trying his very best to be civil and nice to this young upstart Obama, and he failed miserably in the attempt. He thought he'd done well, but the media and independents saw it differently. Turns out that his very best, wasn't good enough.
Under even more pressure than before, and with his campaign slowly exploding before his eyes, what will John's strategy be for Round 2 of these debates? He's on the wrong side of a lot of these arguments, and his attempts to throw mud are backfiring in ways he (incredibly) did not anticipate.
This is a man with a sense of entitlement. We talked about this with Hillary, but I think it is even more pronounced with John. In his eyes, he had the nomination stolen from him in 2000. He was patient. He turned his political convictions upside down to win over the party faithful, and despite his efforts, they have not embraced him.
The Democrats are fired up by a young man with energy, compassion and conviction - someone who has turned the electoral college upside down. This wasn't part of the plan.
This was supposed to be John's time, and the frustration at the way things are turning out must be eating him alive.
Will Barack's very presence of the stage tomorrow night be final straw for John?