McCain's Blunders: Why McCain Lost the Election

           Election day is almost upon us and it seems more and more clear that Barack Obama will be our next president.  I think it is fair to say that Barack Obama did not win this election as much as John McCain lost it.  Immediately following the major party conventions, polls showed the election to be virtually tied.  What happened to the McCain campaign was (for a major political party) an almost unbelievably poor campaign strategy.  

            McCain was never able to hit on a clear and consistent campaign theme.  He told us he was experienced, he has been tested, and he is a maverick.  He supported George Bush on the Iraq war (a really unpopular idea) and on most social issues.  He told us that he would be different on the economy, but he never told us just how.  McCain tried to define his opponent, but again never found a theme that resonated with most Americans.  According to McCain, Obama was inexperienced one day, lacked judgment another day, and on a third day, Obama was close friends with terrorists and radical preachers.  At one time McCain was pounding the theme “Obama not ready to lead.”  That I thought was a good theme for the McCain campaign, but several weeks ago the campaign stopped saying it.  They should have pushed it harder and harder.    

            When the economy went into the toilet, McCain really lost it.  And this may be the second biggest blunder of his campaign.  He looked indecisive, when he wanted to look like a leader, as he suspended his campaign to go to Washington ostensibly to solve economic crisis.  And he looked foolish when he never became more than a minor part in the solution, a solution which at first at least was unpopular with most Americans.  People saw this as a campaign ploy, which it was.    

            Obama, on the other hand, maintained his message of change throughout his campaign.  He was successful in defining McCain as a born again George W. Bush.  It was a message he hit with clear and unwavering consistency.  Throughout the campaign, Obama was seldom thrown off message, and when he was, he was able to recover quickly.  This is the essence of effective political campaigning: finding a message that resonates and sticking to it.  McCain failed to do this and it cost him the election.

            In the last debate (too late) McCain finally said the words he should have been saying throughout the campaign.  He said, “Senator Obama, I am not George Bush.  If you wanted to run against George Bush, you should have run four years ago.”  He followed that in the next few days, with a criticism of President Bush’s economic policies.  Had McCain started that message from the beginning, I believe he would be a good bit more competitive in these last few days, and might very well have won the election. 

            Now let’s consider McCain’s number one blunder of this campaign.  That is, of course, his selection of Sarah Palin as his v.p. running mate.  Admittedly, at first, Palin energized the conservative base, but she clearly was not ready for the big time and she blundered badly.  In the end she alienated women who might have turned to McCain after the Obama campaign seemed to treat Hillary Clinton with distain.  Palin also alienated a large number of moderate independent voters.  This was a group, McCain was making headway with and absolutely needed to win the election.  As Palin faded, this group began to break toward Obama and that was the election.  In the end Palin also alienated some clear thinking conservatives, the very group she was supposed to energize. 

            If McCain had selected Romney, for example, he would be in a much stronger position right now.  Romney is popular with conservatives, has excellent credentials on the economy and could have handled the press with a great deal of more aplomb than did Palin. 

            My aim here was not to suggest which candidate was right on the issues, but any who read this blog will know that my personal sentiments lean toward Obama.  My aim was to offer an analysis of why John McCain, who started with a great deal of popularity, lost this election to what in comparison is a political neophyte.  

            Barack Obama simply ran a much better campaign.  His organization was better, his fundraising was stronger, and his message was clearer.  That’s why Barack Obama will be our next president.