By Jwilkes from Eyes on Obama:
Regardless of how this election turns out, John McCain accomplished quite a feat in American partisan politics: he won the Republican Party ’s nomination without the support of the Republican Party. And that’s been his problem all along.
Regardless of how this election turns out, John McCain accomplished quite a feat in American partisan politics: he won the Republican Party’s nomination without the support of the Republican Party. And that’s been his problem all along.
Flash back to February, when McCain rose from the ashes of defeat in Iowa to capture victory in New Hampshire, a state where independents are allowed to vote in the open GOP primary. Despite the fact that former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney carried the state’s self-identified Republican voter base, McCain managed to lure enough moderates and independents to eke out a win. In South Carolina (another open primary), the same thing happened. Large numbers of independents and moderates powered the Straight Talk Express onward, so that by the time the dust had settled, McCain had established enough momentum to cruise the rest of the way to the Republican National Convention.
That was all fine and good, until the defections started. The Arizona Senator had more than ticked off his base. Commentators from Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Michelle Malkin lambasted McCain, denying that he was "conservative" by any stretch of the definition. Ann Coulter vowed to vote for Hillary Clinton before she pulled the lever for McCain. Even his colleagues in the Senate were rooting against him: Mississippi veteran Thad Cochran made the now oft-quoted comment, "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine."
That brings us to late summer. Badly trailing Obama, McCain made a move for the right by choosing Sarah Palin as his running-mate, passing over Romney and others. The decision will haunt him for whatever remains of his career.
Because while Palin gave him an immediate bump in the polls, the novelty didn’t last long. While conservative in theory and principle, Palin simply hasn’t been around long enough to put any of it into practice. If McCain had one thing going for him, it was the fact that he had scores of experience over Democratic candidate Barack Obama. But he torched his own electoral safe haven.
Republicans have always been good at nominating experienced candidates. Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush- all of them spent a significant amount of time in executive offices before seeking the presidency. And maybe that’s why Palin was such a slap in the face. Her minimal experience renders her patently unqualified to talk about the issues most important to the American voting public.
Imagine if Mitt Romney, the business mastermind who steered Bain Capital from the edge of bankruptcy back into the black and upward to profitability had been campaigning instead of Palin. It would have injected the Republican ticket with the one thing it has lacked all along: credibility.
But McCain knew that picking Palin had the potential of capitalizing on disenfranchised Hillary Clinton supporters. It’s hard to believe that the team of rocket scientists guiding his campaign couldn’t look down the road to see this. But if they could foresee the backlash, they went ahead with Palin anyway. And now look what’s happening: conservatives are leaving once again. Christopher Buckley, Colin Powell- hell, even conservative London Mayor Boris Johnson endorsed Obama, putting a serious question mark on conservative claims that Europe is getting progressively (no pun intended) less liberal. And don’t forget the conservative newspapers, including the Washington Post, which have been backing Obama by the handful.
The simple truth is that McCain never had the opportunity to solidify his base. He never could quite build the foundation of support he needed from his own party to start picking up the stragglers in the middle. And that’s why his house of support is collapsing.