| By Patrick Ruffini on John McCain Folks, listen to Mark McKinnon on this one: There is nothing to be gained by second-guessing the McCain strategy at this point. In ten days, we'll get to have a discussion about where we go next -- about Sarah Palin, Bobby Jindal, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, or Eric Cantor. We'll have to elect a new RNC Chairman who gets to figure out how we rubuild the edifice from scratch and wage the first $1 billion campaign in 2012. We're going to have new people at the NRCC and NRSC who are going to have to come to terms with the fact that there are no safe seats anywhere, and that we need to do 72 Hour and have real campaigns in every district. That will be much more important than looking into the rearview mirror on the probably unwinnable race for the White House.
Like McKinnon I too feel the McCain camp could probably have done some things differently, but it probably wouldn't be enough to save them. What is striking about 2008 is how little the campaigns have mattered in comparison to the fundamental nature of the two men running.
Nothing the McCain campaign did could change the reality of McCain the candidate's poor management instincts and his tendency to fidget around and not stay on message. When the economic crisis hit, this reality flew in the face of the McCain campaign's message of steadiness versus inexperience. Whether by design or the candidate's nature, Obama's caution and deliberation was a living, breathing talking point against the experience card.
Likewise, I think it will be said that the McCain campaign has yet to really lay a glove on Obama character-wise because Obama himself simply does not project the cloying, insecure, effete tendencies of past nominees like Gore and Kerry, though the only two times he's come close (Wright and bitter/cling) have barely figured in the general election campaign. I do think "celeb" was the best chance we had to define Obama personally, but again, though there is something to be said for attacking a guy's strength, Obama's grassroots appeal was a legitimate strength, not a hidden weakness.
I am becoming more and more convinced that to run for President, you need to be the kind of person who doesn't give a s*** what's said about you and you just keep on going, steady as she goes. Obama has this, and so did Bush in both his campaigns. The key is to appear calm, unruffled, and grounded in your persona while seeming to be a man (or crucially, woman) of action in politics and policy.
So, number one, the race was very, very tough because of the political environment, and it became hellish after the economic crisis.
And two, the race was very, very tough because of the particulars of the Obama-McCain matchup. I happen to think Romney/Palin would have been a stronger ticket, but I'm not sure it could have won either.  |
