Posted on 11/20/2008 6:44:58 AM PST by Rufus2007
As it turns out, swaying from conservative principles doesn’t always pay off for a Republican presidential candidate. Sen. John McCain learned that lesson that hard way.
Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a senior policy adviser to McCain’s failed campaign, said Nov. 19 that McCain’s support for the $700 billion bailout of the financial sector was the “key strategic blunder of the entire campaign.”
“We also make mistakes,” Holtz-Eakin told a group of conservatives at The Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. “There’s no doubt about it--20/20 hindsight. I think the key strategic policy error of the entire campaign, that is mine, is believing that the bailout bill would help.”
...more (w/audio)...
(Excerpt) Read more at businessandmedia.org ...
Ha... ‘Dance with the one that brung ya...’
Other Moral of the story - McCain doesn’t have any conservative instincts.
McCain’s support for the $700 billion bailout of the financial sector was the “key strategic blunder of the entire campaign.”
DUH!
McCain simply looked foolish when he suspended the campaign, flew to Washington, and accomplished...nothing.
I agree that it was.
But this story is a bit odd in making bailout support/non-support to be a *political* move rather than just operating out of conviction.
The thing should have been opposed on principle, and not as a political calculation.
/sarc
Was Sarah for the bailout herself??
With advisors like this, who needs political enemies?
Finally. This may be the single issue that ruined McAmnesty’s chances.
In some ways, this is good. It proved that all this “Bipartisanship” we were swallowing doesn’t work, as Reagan so eloquently proved.
Reaganism is alive and well my fellow Freepers.
It was a missed opportunity to catch Obama as backing the wrong side of the crisis. The public was against the bailout and I am sure that many conservatives stayed home for this reason above all.
“I think had John McCain suspended his campaign and returned to Washington to announce his opposition to the bailout, we would be looking forward to his inauguration in January.”
I wouldn’t go so far as to say “looking forward to” but it is safe to say there would be slightly less dread involved with the arrival of inauguration day.....
The combination of voting for it, stopping the campaign to work on it, not having any coherent message AT ALLon the economic collapse, and during the bailout debate having no significant role, no major press conference, no ratting out of the recipients of pork in the bill, and no message during the first debate on the economic crisis is what led to the loss.
He simply let Obama run all over him on this issue and never did anything to regain his footing on the most important issue to voters. I thought the ‘spread the wealth’ gave him an opening, but they never extrapolated on that concept to explain to the American people how that idea is a failed idea is would affect the voters that pay taxes. They should have had commercials adding up all the new taxes: reversal of the Bush cuts, increased FICA, increased health costs, increased carbon credits, increased cost of energy, etc.
How come so many of the "amateur" advisers here knew it at the time and said so and the "professional" advisers couldn't figure it out. What the heck is it that you folks in DC are drinking?
The first mistake he made was needing advisors to tell him what the “right” thing to do is.
YA THINK?!?!
Second!
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