First, today's John McCain looks and acts a lot different than the 2000 version. I think he sold his soul and his values in so many ways to gain the nomination. In for a penny, in for a pound. After the nomination, McCain had to "go for broke" and do all the things he probably wouldn't have normally done like going negative. That only hurt him. But by now it\'s too late. He looks like another dirty politician.
The Bush presidency, Sarah Palin, suspending his campaign, the financial crisis. All bad for him. Here's a little quote from Politico's Roger Simon:
How about that Dick Cheney endorsement Saturday? Wasn’t that a brilliant move with just three days to go in the race? Here is John McCain struggling to demonstrate to the voters that his election will not represent four more years of the George W. Bush administration, and so who does McCain’s campaign trot out? The leading architect of the George W. Bush administration!Barack Obama ran an epic campaign for an epic time. McCain couldn't grasp that to win he had to perform like every African-American and woman has had to for years. To win he had to work much harder, be much smarter, appear more honest and more humble than his opponent.
You would have a hard time finding a less popular national political figure in America today than Dick Cheney. His approval rating is around 18. And that is 18 people, not 18 percent. (OK, OK, I am kidding. But an 18 percent approval rating is pretty awful.)
I'm loosely quoting the great political writer Hunter S. Thompson from memory, "The fix is in, the worm has turned." It's time for Americans to grow up, shut up, act like adults, and get to work fixing this country that George W. Bush has destroyed. Power to the people.