John McCain’s 5 Biggest Campaign Blunders
John McCain is an honorable man and deserves to be President as much as anyone who has run in the last half century. However, McCain and his campaign have made some really bad blunders during his 2008 campaign against Barack Obama. McCain could even still win the election on Tuesday but if he is defeated then here are the top five reasons why he lost to Obama.
John McCain’s 5 Biggest Campaign Blunders
5. Didn’t Have Anyone on Campaign as Smart as Joe the Plumber - Hundreds of high paid campaign staffers and it takes an unlicensed plumber from Ohio, the now famous ‘Joe the Plumber’, to point out to America that Obama want’s to take money from one economic class and ’spread the wealth’ to those of a lesser income class. Barack smartly repeated over and over “tax cuts for 95% of Americans” during every debate and campaign stop. It wasn’t John McCain but ‘Joe the Plumber’ that realized that “tax cuts for 95%” was Barack’s disguise for a new version of welfare and income redistribution. It still is mindblowing that neither McCain or anyone on his staff didn’t take the time to truly read and disect Obama’s 95% tax cut policy proposal. McCain was truly dead in the water until Barack showed up on Joe Wurzelbacher’s front yard where Joe asked the question that turned McCain’s campaign around and awoke America to Obama’s modernized welfare plan proposal.
4. Not Developing an Unstoppable Ground Game - It is hard to understand how McCain wrapped up the GOP nomination in March yet failed to develop an unstoppable ground game during the next three months while Hillary Clinton and Obama continued to battled it out against each other for the democrat nomination. Perhaps John was just napping up and preparing for the long and gruesome campaign trail. The more plausible answer is that a majority of conservatives and hard-right wing republicans were less than thrilled that he was the party’s nomination for President. Obama’s ground game is very similar to the one President George W. Bush had in 2004 that was near unstoppable despite being a very unpopular incumbant for re-election. Obama even has a freaking iPhone application to help supporters get out to vote and persuade others to do the same for Obama. With an unbalanced and biased media McCain needed to make up for it with a strong grass roots effort and he failed.
3. Not Attacking Obama on Reverend Wright - McCain is so afraid of being labeled a racist that he wouldn’t even bring up the controversial, anti-American pastor of Obama during the campaign. John was so visibly shaken at the third debate by Rep. John Lewis comparing him to the racist George Wallace that his blood was boiling. He demanded a repudiation from Barack, but Obama wouldn’t give it to him. Obama’s claims that he didn’t know that Rev. Jeremiah Wright had said so many hateful and anti-American things during his 20 years of attending the controversial Chicago church. A vast majority of Americans found Obama’s denials to be flimsy and not the truth. McCain could have gained as much as 5 percentage points by attacking Obama on Wright, but McCain stuck to his word that he wouldn’t bring Wright up (and we know he didn’t because he would unfairly have been branded a racist by team Obama).
2. Suspending Campaign to Return to D.C. to Work on Financial Bailout - It was a risky move that backfired on McCain. He had to take a chance at the time as the econmic crisis was hemmoroging his campaign to an early death. He went for it on 4th and 1 from the 2 yard line and came up 2 inches short. The best thing he could have done would have been to return to Washington and vote against the bailout. The bailout was proposed by President Bush and Barack voted for it along with almost every other democrat. If McCain had opposed the bill then he would have done what 80% of Americans were in favor of. In the process he would have voted against Obama and Bush at the same time. But to McCain’s credit he thought and thinks the bailout is the best thing for the American people. He does seem to almost always put country first even if it is damning to his own political aspirations.
1. Running for President of the United States - Nobody can blame McCain for running for President of the United States. He has for sure earned the opportunity and frankly is within 2-3 percentage points of actually winning the nation’s highest office. But the GOP would almost for sure have guaranteed victory if they had nominated Mitt Romney. Romney is a smart businessman, good economic issues, and would have had a lot of right answers during the three week financial crisis where McCain’ campaign floundered. Romney is also young and attractive. Unfortunately to many religious right voters he is Mormon and that unfortunately kept him from beating McCain. A Romney/McCain or Romney/Guiliani ticket would have almost certainly led to a victory over the extremely liberal and inexperienced Barack Obama.
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Which blunder do you think was the worst campaign decision for John McCain? Do you have one that wasn’t mentioned? If so leave a comment below with your thoughts!
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15 Responses to “John McCain’s 5 Biggest Campaign Blunders”
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McCain is a dusty old fart.
As a Democrat for McCain, I agree that his campaign was serious flawed. In addition to the items above, McCain’s funding strategy was woefully inadequate.
While Obama had the likes of Oprah, Colin Powell and a whole slew of black entertainers, Mccain sat on the sidelines like the last kid picked to play on the schoolyard. Finally yesterday, Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger came out and clearly articulated the strengths of McCain. He was humorous but oh so on the money. He should have been out there weeks ago!
The commercials McCain ran were boring and not on point. The one I hated is the type writer ad which reeked of 1990. Obama’s commercials were sentimental and clearlyy reached out to the average American. Kudos.
Since this not a Miss America pageant, marketing and charm should not be the deciding factor for the Commander in Chief. It’s unfortunate but the Obama campaign is like the wizard of Oz, when you look behind the curtain you see someone orchestrating a powerful illusion.
John McCain’s biggest blunder was picking Sarah Palin as his running mate. He needed a female to help him get the Hillary vote, but after seeing Palin for the airhead she is, those voters have backed off. He tries to pick somone young in an effort to offset fears about his age. That also backfired.
There were lots of younger, female Republicans with more experience and a better understanding of the problems this country is facing.
Sarah Palin. The Jessica Simpson of politics.
McCain’s biggest blunder was aligning himself with a party full of dunder-heads like you.
He should have run as the man who would lead the country, and reform the GOP, driving out the hate, the lies, and the divisive behavior that Americans have grown tired of.
You scared old women, petrified that poor people won’t be punished for their laziness (for that is the reason they are poor!), petrified that darkies might date your daughters, or have some power over you, for surely they will abuse that power to disenfranchise you the way you have them, you are the poison that has finally rotted away the Republican party’s appeal.
You call McCain’s decision not to be a racist a blunder. You deride him for not campaigning on even more lies about Obama’s supposed secret wealth redistribution program.
His blunders, as you call them, are being the honorable, honest, and respectful man that he is. The GOP hates McCain, because he reminds them of the proud party they used to be. As opposed to the muck-rakers and hate-mongers they have become.
It’s not about winning. It’s about being the better candidate. Unfortunately for McCain, he has sunk to the level of his party.
Over the last 20+ years My Wife and I have owned a small Construction co. making less than $150k per year. We understand how important a signed agreement is. Most of the times we have been taken advantage of were when this agreement was broken. McCain should have made more clear to the public Obama broke the public finance agreement He and McCain signed.
John McCain’s biggest blunder was the bailout bill in my opinion but as listed above he voted for what he thinks is right despite his political career and although that makes him a maverick, I hated the damn bailout bill.
However, I don’t like the Great Oz as I refer to Obama because behind the curtains, it is obvious that Obama spreads the wealth around and on November 4th, I’m voting for McCain because I trust him with my money far more than I trust the tax and spend Obama who is packaging up his campaign still doesn’t disguise the stench of socialism. I am angry with the whole bailout plan. What happened to people reaping the consequences for their actions?
Where is the bailout for the average Janes and Joes? Well of course, the smartest bailout would’ve been to split up the $700 billion dollars and gave it to every citizen that is legal in the US. Although I am not in favor of high taxes like the Democrats plan on making, which is a sliding scale whether you listen to Obama, Biden, or Richardson, I loved what President Bush did for the average Joe and gave us the stimulus checks this year. For all the talk of President Bush’s unpopularity, Pelosi and Reid and Frank are far more unpopular.
Yes, my version is equally socialist I suppose but I trust the taxpayers on Main Street more than I do those awful businessman on Wall Street. I’m scared as hell that Obama is going to tax my 401K and retirement accounts into oblivion.
Those are my real fears. McCain shouldn’t have voted for the bailout and that was the stupidest blunder he made in the election. But he was truly trying to make a difference and reach across the aisle despite what the Democrats said. Pelosi and Reid and company looked ridiculous claiming Mission Accomplished when the republican congress said no deal.
I applaud Shelby and Session from my state who voted against the bailout.
They are mavericks in every since of the word. McCain will hopefully win the presidency because otherwise at least for the next four years, I’ll be complaining night and day about having a socialist liberal for president.
I totally agree with the previous comment. Picking that in-experienced Ding Bat Palin cost him my vote, and it appears the election. Instead of doing the human thing and having an abortion, she gives birth to a screwed up kid, and then as if that was not bad enough, she throws herself into the running instead of being at home taking care of him. She is one screwed up person.
Tax cuts are not wealth redistribution. They are simply refunding an interest-free loan given to the government.
Refundable tax credits are closer to “welfare” and are not being proposed. These programs mostly cover a portion of providing for a child, not the taxpayer, though not enough to do it fully.
Reverend Wright is not a winning issue, he is not running for president nor does he affect the economy.
McCain could never have an unstoppable ground game and also pander to the hardcore 30% base. The middle 40% do not want those people telling them how to vote. In case you haven’t seen the data, the majority do not want Roe touched, creationism, etc. Face it, there aren’t that many Repubs for McCain, they have to poll 50/50 by party to get favorable results for him.
So many things are wrong with McCain. I am an Independent, voting Democrat this election.
Republicans keep speaking of Obama’s tax plans as welfare. That’s interesting. Every time somebody mentions the possibility of cutting taxes on the middle class, it immediately becomes welfare. But cut taxes even further on big businesses, (McCain’s plan) and you are a hero, even though these businesses are shipping jobs overseas by the tens of thousands. Who does everybody think is going to pick up the tab for those cuts? That would be us, the middle class. And add to that McCain’s intentions to tax health care, and you add an even bigger burden to the middle class.
And has anyone really looked into the cost of health care? McCain’s plan for the $5k credit does not even scratch the surface of the cost of healthcare for the average family of 4. I have done some research and have found that for a family of four, with just basic coverage, no eyeglass or dental, it would cost at least $700 a month. And this does not include a prescription plan. Who relies on employer paid healthcare? That would be us, the middle class. Interesting, again, that with 95% of the people in this country falling into this category that we can’t see past the republican fear and lies campaign and recognize that the real problem here is that the rich are too used to us paying their way.
Joe the plumber will be buried by the McCain tax and healthcare plans, and could only be helped by the Obama plans. Why does nobody see this? McCain is out of touch with the needs of this country. Trickle down economics have failed miserably. The rich are still rich, the poor are still poor, and the rest of us are job scared, wondering how we are going to send our children to college. Will Obama be able to reverse the course of things? I doubt it, but at least I believe he will try. McCain will continue the wars for profit, tax cuts for the oil companies — Oh, by the way, did anybody see the story about Exxon posting the highest single quarter profit EVER in American history? I was worried for a moment that they might feel the pain of this OIL CRISIS like the rest of this. Thank GOD they have weathered this storm, and have been able to turn tragedy into triumph.
And Sarah Palin? Really? You must be joking. Women everywhere should be offended by this decision. She is a complete MORON! Out of all the women in the party, her? Come on, already. Hours could be spent explaining that mistake, but she does a pretty fair job of it herself every time she opens her mouth.
I really hope he is unable to steal another election for the republicans. That would be a real tragedy.
I think more people should look @ wikipedia read about Sen. Obama before they jump to conclusions. Whether he wins or loses I’m still going to vote for him and wish he and his family all the best.
Oh yeah, RASISM IS STRONGER IN america NOW MORE THAN IT HAS EVERY BEEN.
John McCain’s biggest blunder is being too simple-minded to recognize that the GOP has been using the White House as a front for propelling fascism onto the global stage. The soon to be outed party leader is guilty of innumerable crimes, including treason, war crimes, fiscal mismanagement, larceny on a grander scale, obstruction of justice, and in general just being an idiot.
It doesn’t matter what John McCain did or does, the vast majority of American citizens are sick of having the US Constitution and Bill of Rights shit all over by greedy and morally bankrupt fascists. The remaining minority who still support the 4th Reich are just like the Nazis who turned in or killed their neighbors and family members who dared stand up against the real evil in Nazi Germany. Good thing we’ve learned from that in this country. Sorry to burst your bubble but it just isn’t going to heppen again. You lose.
I continue to find the “guilt by association” aspect of the Wright/Ayres issue to be extremely galling. It’s one thing to hold a man accountable for his own actions and views but to hold someone accountable for the views, beliefs, and actions of his associates…that goes too far.
Were we to apply that standard to Republicans then how many from the South would be left untouched by the taint of racism? All it takes is one friend, family member, associate, or contributor.
For me the selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate was a turn off. I am certainly not against a woman, however, in this case I feel she was chosen solely for her gender and this was strictly a political move.
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Rev. Wright is the racist here. That is clear as day. Mccain would have been unfairly labeled a racist for pointing out Rev. Wright hates America, and he hates White folks. That is the self-righteous, self-justified way of Black Liberation Theology. It doesn’t take a Phd in Christian Theology to understand that Rev. Wrights “church” theology is as radical and non-Christian as it gets. The Christian label is a political wrapper. The nation of Islam does the same with their “Islam” wrapper. They are a group of hate filled individuals, racists, that are outcasts to Islam.
Obama has always supported Rev. Wright. He gives him accolades in this 1995 video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh7xMhsLnac
Anyone with a level head could see that Obama is the wrong man for our country. It is unfortunate that this black man is the man that made it this far. He is the worst possible democrat. He is more liberal than our lone socialist in the Senate, and he will rip our nation apart with a racial divide we haven’t seen in decades.
Rev. Wright is a blatant racist and having him as a family friend for over 20 years is a major problem. But then again, no one cares about his racist book he wrote, “dreams of my father”, so why would they care about Rev. Wright?. The quotes in that book contradict all the golden tongued lies he has used to sell America his snake oil.