How McCain Imploded: Campaigning as Recklessly as Bush GovernedRobert S. Becker, Ph.D.byline‚ Jan. 07‚ 2009Republican partisans grumble that John McCain never had a chance, victimized by big money, a hostile media, a Democratic year, and "outside" forces beyond his control. Does this array explain the shocking loss of GOP strongholds North Carolina, Iowa and Indiana? Or why this certain loser trailed Barack Obama by two points at the second Presidential Debate? Recessions and meltdowns are not "outside" politics, nor are media mistakes or fundraising gaps. What apologists devalue is the pattern of inside blunders that typified McCain's campaign, lurching from crisis to crisis, driven by self-inflicted wounds. Eventually, voters saw an explicit, if unintended narrative: McCain adopted not just Bush's bravado and policies, but campaigned as recklessly and irresponsibly as the disgraced President governed. |