An analysis of the McCain campaign

We all know John McCain is behind in the polls and barely hanging onto relevance as a candidate. With that in mind, here is MZ's list of reasons why McCain's campaign has sputtered and failed to generate excitement and enthusiasm.

1. He is deeply mistrusted by the conservatives in the GOP because of his RINO history. McCain might want to brag in speeches and debates about how often he goes against conservatives to advance liberal legislation, but that only hurts him further with his base who feels that open, festering wound open up after he reminds them of his "bi-partisanship" and "reaching across the aisle".

Sarah Palin helped excite many on the right, but McCain's reluctance in letting her speak out without his approved script soured some of that enthusiasm and brought back doubts about McCain's credentials as a true conservative. Many would rather have her at the top of the ticket and see McCain just go away.

2. Moderates, who tend to vote Republican but have liberal views on abortion, were outraged by his choice of Sarah Palin as VP. She divided the pro-choice fiscal conservatives who were enthusiastic about McCain's willingness to reach across the aisle, but now believe he compromised his position as a trusted moderate who wouldn't pander to the right.

3. McCain outraged fiscal conservatives who strongly disagreed with the bloated, socialist, $850 billion bailout plan, and counted on him to fight the excessive spending bill from being enacted. Instead, McCain rubber stamped the Pelosi/Reid/Frank bill and lost a golden opportunity to distance himself from both Bush and Obama in the process.

When McCain suspended his campaign to take on the bailout plan it was widely believed among conservatives that he would side with the rebel republicans and democrats who opposed giving almost a trillion dollars of tax payer money to the government which was so responsible for this mess to begin with. What they got instead was a silent follower of big government that sold out his GOP House members that were fighting against this massive spending plan.

4. McCain's refusal to attack Obama's long term religious connections to anti-Semitic/anti-American preacher Jeremiah Wright, and his disturbing political ties to William Ayers confounded angry GOP supporters who wanted to see Obama ripped apart for these ties.

McCain finally has tacitly mentioned Ayers, but without any real aggression or enthusiasm. He still won't even mention Reverend Wright's name, and barely has brought up Obama's ties to Acorn or his shady dealings with Rezco. He also has rejected the opportunity to point out the affirmative action lending policies that led to this crisis were the fault of Democrats, who used a lethal combination of social engineering with political kickbacks to drive the sub-prime lending market into the ground.

5. McCain just doesn't seem to have any message beyond "Maverick", "Bi-partisanship", and "Taking on his own party". Look, no matter how you cut it, there is no chance that McCain can be more anti-republican than Obama.

Running a post-republican campaign might sound nice in a time when the Republican party is more unpopular than normal, but he needs to understand that all he will accomplish by doing this throwing the GOP, and himself, under the bus.

Conclusion

In spite of all this, McCain is statistically only about 5 points down in the national polling averages. Joe the Plumber is helping him reconnect with many of these angry voters who want representation, and if McCain can stop crapping on his own party between now and election day he still has a remote chance at stealing a long shot win.

I'm holding out for the next two weeks to see if he can still earn my vote.

-MZ