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You are here: Home / Politics / McCain’s Demise

McCain’s Demise

by John Cole|  July 16, 200710:27 am| 27 Comments

This post is in: Politics

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It appears the only person who is unaware his 2008 Presidential campaign is over is, in fact, John McCain:

Sen. John McCain’s top three press aides resigned this morning, Republicans close to the campaign said and one of those aides confirmed.

The campaign’s research director and two other press staffers also stepped down.

The departure of Brian Jones, the communications director, Danny Diaz, his deputy, and Matt David, another deputy, had been widely anticipated since last week’s resignation of campaign manager Terry Nelson. All three were Nelson’s proteges and worked closely with departed strategist John Weaver.

But all three showed up in New Hampshire last Friday to staff McCain’s two-day trip through the state. Jones carefully attended to McCain at a press conference and Diaz staffed him on a blogger conference call. The Wall Street Journal reported that day that the three would resign Saturday. They did not. They did, in fact, share a farewell drink with the Senator.

It is kind of sad, really. I would never have voted for McCain, and I have found him to be a profile in cowardice these past few years- publicly sort of/kind of raising a scene about torture, then toeing the Bush line, etc., and like many others, I still have never recovered from McCain-Feingold, but at the same time it is kind of unsettling and painful too watch someone fall so far so fast.

But it is over. I can say with relative certainty that John McCain will never be President. At least not of the United States.

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27Comments

  1. 1.

    Mr Furious

    July 16, 2007 at 10:35 am

    I remember during the 2000 race thinking that McCain wouldn’t have been too bad as President. Don’t get me wrong— I was a huge Gore guy—but I had a lot of respect for McCain.

    Was I buying a boatoad of bullshit at the time, or has the unravelling, coward we’ve seen under greater scrutiny the last few years closer to the truth? Because McCain 2000 and earlier seems a far cry from the McCain of today.

    TZ, tell us what’s what—you know him better than most…

  2. 2.

    Jake

    July 16, 2007 at 10:41 am

    It is kind of sad, really.

    Oh yes. Tragic. [snerk!] Mwahahahaaaa!

    Anyone who tries to get in the White House via Base fluffing can’t fall fast enough or far enough.

  3. 3.

    Chad N. Freude

    July 16, 2007 at 10:45 am

    unravelling

    I think it’s age. Seriously. Not dozens-of-cats-roaming-among-piles-of-old-newspapers age, but Wait-where-are-my-glasses-and-why-did-I-come-into-this-room age.

  4. 4.

    Pb

    July 16, 2007 at 11:03 am

    I agree with most of that (and props for ‘toeing the […] line’ — correct!) — but could someone explain this to me:

    and like many others, I still have never recovered from McCain-Feingold

    What was so incredibly horrific about it? And, in short, (with apologies to Jefferson) how did it either pick your pocket or break your leg?

  5. 5.

    ThymeZone

    July 16, 2007 at 11:28 am

    TZ, tell us what’s what—you know him better than most…

    John McCain is two things: A genuine hero of the Vietnam era, who endured a lot in a North Vietnamese prison and deserves the thanks of the country for his service.

    Second, he is a walking ball of ambition, a man who will do and say anything to become a Senator, to curry favor with the powerful, to pretend to be a “maverick” or swing around and pretend to be a supporter of somebody he despises like George Bush …. a man who sucked up to Charles Keating and would still be doing so if Keating hadn’t got his tit caught in the wringer.

    John McCain is unfit to be a high official of our government, IMO, and I’m sorry to have to put up with him as my Senator. But of course, there’s Jon Kyl to make him look good by comparison. But that’s for another thread someday.

    The collapse of McCain’s candidacy is fitting, and not unexpected. Not many here thought he would last very long, and he hasn’t.

  6. 6.

    Faux News

    July 16, 2007 at 11:37 am

    but Wait-where-are-my-glasses-and-why-did-I-come-into-this-room age.

    I’m already at this stage and I’m only 47 :-(

  7. 7.

    RandyH

    July 16, 2007 at 11:38 am

    I used to really respect McCain. I guess it all changed sometime around 2003 or 2004 when he got the crazy idea that if he just embraced the neo-con policies of the Cheney administration and started pretending to like Robertson/Falwell, etc. that he might be able to “win” in the “new” Republican party. But the fact that he would openly criticize these factions that he despised was what made him “The Maverick” that people liked so much. His campaign this time has been a disgrace. He abandoned all of his principles and went into “Crazy Base-Land.” Now he just looks like a crazy old man who doesn’t like “gay sweaters.”

    If he would have stuck with the old formula from the start, he might be the only appealing Republican candidate right now. And it’s too late to just renounce the “bad advice” and re-start the campaign.

  8. 8.

    Zifnab

    July 16, 2007 at 11:44 am

    Was I buying a boatoad of bullshit at the time, or has the unravelling, coward we’ve seen under greater scrutiny the last few years closer to the truth? Because McCain 2000 and earlier seems a far cry from the McCain of today.

    Back in 2000, I thought Bush was an idiot, but a harmless idiot. After all, the President doesn’t have THAT much power. He’s CiC, and he’s a stop-gap against Congress. I still voted for Gore, but I figured it was one of those “What’s the worst that could happen?” sort of elections.

    McCain, from what I’ve heard, is the same pandering pussy in Arizona that he’s revealed himself to be on the campaign trail. He was just better at hiding it back in ’00. Had McCain won the nomination, I don’t think he’d have had the full backing of the Republican Party that year. Without their full backing, he couldn’t have rode to victory on dirty tricks, rigged elections, and SCOTUS decisions like Bush Jr did. McCain pandered to the wrong people back in 2000, and that’s why he lost. He discovered that then and tried to correct his mistake eight years later. Unfortunately for him, McCain has done a terrible job of both picking people to pander to and pandering to them. That’s why he’s sunk today.

  9. 9.

    Rome Again

    July 16, 2007 at 11:47 am

    would still be doing so if Keating hadn’t got his tit caught in the wringer.

    You got that from me, didn’t you? Visions of bunkbeads going through my head, OUCH! [To those who have no idea what that’s supposed to mean, too bad, you’re not getting it from me] ;)

    The collapse of McCain’s candidacy is fitting, and not unexpected. Not many here thought he would last very long, and he hasn’t.

    He certainly didn’t live up to his name: “son of Cain”. Whew! Thank God for that!

  10. 10.

    ThymeZone

    July 16, 2007 at 11:48 am

    McCain has done a terrible job of both picking people to pander to and pandering to them. That’s why he’s sunk today.

    Right on the mark.

  11. 11.

    Chad N. Freude

    July 16, 2007 at 11:51 am

    McCain pandered to the wrong people back in 2000, and that’s why he lost.

    That may be true, but don’t forget the vicious false rumor campaign that was waged against him by the Rovians some unknown group.

  12. 12.

    Rome Again

    July 16, 2007 at 11:54 am

    I used to really respect McCain. I guess it all changed sometime around 2003 or 2004 when he got the crazy idea that if he just embraced the neo-con policies of the Cheney administration and started pretending to like Robertson/Falwell, etc. that he might be able to “win” in the “new” Republican party.

    I think you have it backwards. He was pretending to be more like normal Americans while buying into the Neocon fantasy. I think it was a hard character to play without letting some of what he really thinks slip out from time to time. Those hardcore Republican supporters like a man who takes strong stands against normal behavior.

  13. 13.

    jrg

    July 16, 2007 at 12:23 pm

    A genuine hero of the Vietnam era, who endured a lot in a North Vietnamese prison and deserves the thanks of the country for his service.

    As if that makes him special. The Republican party is full of war heroes. During the War on Christmas of 2006, thousands of brave Republican-Americans were brutally tortured by liberal Jews during each visit to Wal-Mart and Target.

    McCain’s problem is that he plays up his own hardships, but he fails to appreciate the sacrifices of these brave Americans… Americans who would jump on a hand grenade to save the baby Jesus.

    But seriously – McCain could never win the general election because of his stance on Iraq, but that does not matter, he’ll never win the Republican primary because he’s not a snake-handling faith healer. If McCain was not so old, he would do well to switch parties (or just abandon both). Republican primary voters are like strychnine to anything resembling common sense.

  14. 14.

    ran

    July 16, 2007 at 12:56 pm

    he’s a warmongering douchebag of a fraud. good freaking riddance.

  15. 15.

    The Other Steve

    July 16, 2007 at 1:30 pm

    No offense, but… I fully expect John McCain will get the nomination for 2008.

    He’s the presumptive one that the Republican establishment wants. I don’t understand it, but that goes a long ways actually. Especially in the GOP.

  16. 16.

    Tsulagi

    July 16, 2007 at 2:05 pm

    Live by the Bush (43), die by the Bush. I think Tony Blair sort of learned that lesson too.

    Yeah, I guess I should feel sorry for McCain on some level. Not only was his willingness to be Bush’s buttboy for six years bad enough, he tossed the last shred of dignity maybe he could have claimed by also sucking up to the Falwells, Dobsons, and Robertsons.

    I see no problem McCain or anyone else being ambitious. That’s a good thing. But McCain sold his soul for his ambition. Big difference. And what did he get in exchange for his soul by being a pet fluffer for The Tards he said were harmful to the country eight years ago? Absolutely nothing. Now he’s dead-man walking in this prez campaign season. He earned it by his own choice; he gets no sympathy from me.

  17. 17.

    jrg

    July 16, 2007 at 2:11 pm

    No offense, but… I fully expect John McCain will get the nomination for 2008.

    None taken, but I doubt it will happen. He’s behind on fundraising, half his staff just quit, and he’s been tanking in the polls for months, now.

    I hope I’m wrong, but unless we withdraw from Iraq before the primaries and Iraq becomes (even more of) an unmitigated disaster, thus vindicating his pro-Iraq-war stance, he is screwed.

  18. 18.

    JGabriel

    July 16, 2007 at 3:30 pm

    The Other Steve:

    [McCain’s] the presumptive one that the Republican establishment wants. I don’t understand it, but that goes a long ways actually. Especially in the GOP.

    Trust me, if McCain were the presumptive one, the one the Republican establishment wants, he’d have a lot more cash on hand. The MSR (Mainstream Republican) establishment makes sure their candidate is well-funded.

    Which means Giuliani or Fred Thompson is their choice. Not Mitt — if it weren’t for Mitt’s wealth, he’d be in the same cash hole as McCain.

  19. 19.

    JGabriel

    July 16, 2007 at 3:33 pm

    The Other Steve:

    [McCain’s] the presumptive one that the Republican establishment wants. I don’t understand it, but that goes a long ways actually. Especially in the GOP.

    Trust me, if McCain were the presumptive one, the one the Republican establishment wants, he’d have a lot more cash on hand. The MSR (Mainstream Republican) establishment makes sure their candidate is well-funded.

    Which means Giuliani or Fred Thompson is their choice. Not Mitt — if it weren’t for Mitt’s wealth, he’d be in the same cash hole as McCain.

  20. 20.

    JGabriel

    July 16, 2007 at 3:34 pm

    Uh, sorry for the double post.

  21. 21.

    The Other Steve

    July 16, 2007 at 3:40 pm

    None taken, but I doubt it will happen. He’s behind on fundraising, half his staff just quit, and he’s been tanking in the polls for months, now.

    Same was true of John Kerry in 2003. It’s meaningless.

  22. 22.

    The Other Steve

    July 16, 2007 at 3:44 pm

    Trust me, if McCain were the presumptive one, the one the Republican establishment wants, he’d have a lot more cash on hand. The MSR (Mainstream Republican) establishment makes sure their candidate is well-funded.

    Which means Giuliani or Fred Thompson is their choice.

    McCain has the backing of the party apparatus. Governors, that sort of thing. Giuliani seems to have the backing of the investment bankers in New york.

    Mitt has the backing of his bank account.

    I’m just saying. Don’t be surprised if he doesn’t come out on top. The media loves the guy, and he’s going to get a lot of free press, and he has endorsements from so many politicians and such.

  23. 23.

    sglover

    July 16, 2007 at 4:03 pm

    Good riddance. I can’t deny that his service in Vietnam was extraordinary. But he’s a lousy public figure.

  24. 24.

    sglover

    July 16, 2007 at 4:09 pm

    No offense, but… I fully expect John McCain will get the nomination for 2008.

    Well, there is one more gambit he can play…..

  25. 25.

    sglover

    July 16, 2007 at 4:16 pm

    Trust me, if McCain were the presumptive one, the one the Republican establishment wants, he’d have a lot more cash on hand. The MSR (Mainstream Republican) establishment makes sure their candidate is well-funded.

    That’s a capsule summary of the 2000 Bush campaign right there. Heading into the GOP coronation, er, convention, pretty much the only things most people knew about the boy were his last name, and the fact that he’d used it to attract enormous amounts of cash.

    McCain’s not getting the traditional Republican Borg treatment. He’s toast. Not even another Baghdad stroll, this time without the attending helicopter gunships and reinforced platoon, will help him.

  26. 26.

    Cain

    July 16, 2007 at 6:19 pm

    Sorry, offtopic, but according to St. Petersburg Times another surge is quite possible. I’m not sure how they are going to accomplish that with people doing multiple tours of duty and them not able to meet recruitment goals. They should at least institute the draft. Jeezus…

    Worse, it seems Cheney wants to force Bush into a confrontation with Iran. I wonder what our friend McCain likes to think about all this armed conflict.

    These people are fucking crazy. Where’s Superman when you need him?

    links:
    st. petersburgh link
    bush and cheney

    h/t: crooks and liars

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