McCain's Liabilities Give Him the Edge
Early last year, John McCain was the front-runner for the Republican nomination. His response? He blew through close to $50 million in 6 months, and was presumed politically dead. As an insurgent candidate, he out-campaigned, out-debated, and out-strategized his rivals, and climbed over the bodies of candidates with larges bases of support in the Republican party. The non-scandal of his involvement with lobbyists (cue Casablanca: “I’m shocked—shocked!—that there’s gambling” in this casino) has simultaneously solidified his base and made McCain definitively the underdog in the general election. As a front-runner, McCain would be nearly certain to fumble the ball. But no one in recent history has run better while the underdog.
Honestly, that’s got to be Senator Obama’s worst nightmare. The candidate who’s raised the most money in history and has recently become the prohibitive favorite of the party that controls most of the House, the Senate, the governorships, and the state legislatures, may have a hard time portraying himself as an agent of change. And Senator McCain, who has actually done more to change the culture of Washington than anyone else alive, can make a strong case that he is the right man to reform the country. Normally, someone with over 25 years in office could not be an outsider or an underdog, but this election has conspired to make him so. While the young, virile, attractive minority candidate is, amazingly, the defender of the status quo.
Which give John McCain the edge. Because this is a “change election”, right?
Honestly, that’s got to be Senator Obama’s worst nightmare. The candidate who’s raised the most money in history and has recently become the prohibitive favorite of the party that controls most of the House, the Senate, the governorships, and the state legislatures, may have a hard time portraying himself as an agent of change. And Senator McCain, who has actually done more to change the culture of Washington than anyone else alive, can make a strong case that he is the right man to reform the country. Normally, someone with over 25 years in office could not be an outsider or an underdog, but this election has conspired to make him so. While the young, virile, attractive minority candidate is, amazingly, the defender of the status quo.
Which give John McCain the edge. Because this is a “change election”, right?
