As I look at all the good news coming from the polls today and at the same time register McCain/Palin's premeditated decision to take the lowest of low roads now that their chances are looking bleaker than ever, I thought about how other candidates who were destined to lose and what they did in their campaigns once it was obvious that all hope was lost.
I first voted in 1996 and can remember to some degree every election since 1984.
-- What did Mondale do when it was obvious the landslide was coming? We know he tried McCain's VP gimmick with similar results.
-- When did Dukakis' chances in the polls start looking grim? I know that part of what sunk him was his ineffective response to Willie Horton and the tank imagery. But when did this occur in the campaign narrative?
-- In 1992, I have a recollection of Bush I going kind of off the rails in the final days. Once he called Clinton "bozo", my diehard Republican dad knew he'd lost and stayed home on election day.
-- As mentioned earlier, 1996 was my first presidential election. I voted for Clinton, but at no time during that year did I ever think that Clinton might lose and therefore, didn't really pay much attention to Dole. Did Dole really think he had a chance in October 96? Did he put up much of a fight?
-- 2000 and 2004 I think don't fit the patterns above. Both elections were hard fought on both sides and despite gut feelings, there really wasn't a moment when one side "surrendered" (In retrospect, Gore pulling out of Ohio might be a surrender, but he still won the popular vote).
So help me understand. Is McCain's Ayres-fest a typical stage in the cycle of a dying campaign, or is he stooping to lows heretofore unknown?