No republican ticket could have won in 2008. After 8 years of W it was near impossible.
Just look at 1980. It would have been much tougher for Reagan if we was trying to succeed a failed and unpopular GOP President. He’d probably have lost.
It’s tough to win 3 straight terms even in good times, ask Al Gore. He had a good economy under Clinton, no wars, and he still lost.
When you look at the the 8 years of Bush, the unpopularity of the Iraq War, the bad shape of the economy, Obama’s massive 400 million dollar spending edge, the GOP was pretty much doomed. And that was before the market crash and Lehman collapse and the implosion of the economy.
I’ll always wonder what would have happened if Lehman hadn’t collapsed and the economy stayed as it was through the summer. I think McCain would have won a very narrow win.
But once the economy collapsed in September the election was over.
Fortunately, in 2012 Obama won’t be an agent of change. He’ll be representing more of the same.
All true.
But I didn’t help that McCain acted more like Obama’s enabler or partner than his opponent.
McCain ran a very pucillanimous and apologetic campaign.
My guess is that,no, the Dims would have won. Hillary must have kicked herself for not demanding more from Obama after September 15. Palin’s approach would have cut Obama’s lead but only marginally. The Republicans were like Wilkie in 1940. Wilkie signed on to the war, McCain signed on to Bush’s policies. Why not, he sure as hell didn’t know what else to do. What bothered me was the way he rolled over for Obama in the debates. Nobody better touch the magic negro.
If MCcain was against the TARP, he may still win. TARP was very unpopular with the GOP base