Rightwing pundit David Brooks in a recent op ed correctly puts his finger on the problem with John McCain. He simply does not have the "temperament" cannot govern. To put it simply, he is dangerous. http://www.nytimes.com/...
McCain is simply too impulsive, too rash, too uncontrolled in his actions, too unreflective to be able to govern. In short he is dangerous.
There were strikingly similar circumstances in the Goldwater-Miller campaign against Johnson-Humphrey in 1964. Here also there was a move by the right wing candidate (Goldwater)to gain control over the Republican National Committee. Here too there was consternation with the selection of an outsider as his V.P.(N.Y. lawyer William Miller - now known at Kos principally for giving birth to Stephanie). The election was a virtual sweep. Johhnson-Humphrey won 486-52.(61.1% to 38.5%). Goldwater (from Arizona) had wanted to abolish the array of social welfare programs of the 1930s (such as Social Security). See the similarities?
We should not focus on the results however, or the social issues, but on the campaign itself. I remember it in part because I grew up in a very Republican family and in a very Republican state - and even there the word was that Goldwater was simply too much of risk. He was a hothead. It was clear that those in the know in the party simply did not want his finger anywhere close to the "buttom" that might bring nuclear war.
The stunning rashness, crassness, and riskiness of the Palin selection brings this to the foreground for McCain in particularly striking ways, but it is not the only evidence of this. So is McCain's risky behavior in the Senate (his anger even with friends). His poker playing seems to be part of this too (his gambling problem). So appear to be his relations with women. A recent examples: remember his constant checking out of the Gov's butt and twiddling his wedding ring when she was announced - though certainly he knew that the cameras were rolling. He simply could not control his impulses. His recent angry responses to Time magazine and CNN journalists speak to the same issue. McCain is not a person with the necessary self-control for this office. His lack of impulse control is simply too dangerous.
This is the message that really needs to get out there.