Perhaps you’re right, but perhaps the campaign is just very poorly run. People I have respect for are comparing it to the Dole campaign...and that’s not meant to be a complement.
In my view the only people making that absurd comparison are the ones who have little to no knowledge of what's transpiring. I was in a discussion with a fellow earlier, who was criticizing the campaign's every move, yet he didn't even know where McCain or Palin were appearing. People in uncontested states may get the feeling McCain/Palin (or Obama/Biden, for that matter) aren't doing much. Folks in the battleground states generally don't have that impression.
You need to find new people to respect.
In ‘96 Clinton was an incumbent. There was a viable third party, and Race was not an issue.