So, Senator, what will you do after you have your ass handed to you?

[MrCoffee]

Did anyone catch the McLame interview on Good Morning America this morning? It may have been the funniest interview I've ever seen. The interviewer asked him "What would you have done differently?" "Have you thought about your future?" "Will you be glad when this is over?"

Johnny sMack kept mumbling garbage about his internal polling (yeah, he's about to take a pole alright) and how he always does better when he's a little bit of an underdog. For a tenth of a second, I almost felt sorry for ol' Mavericky McLame. Almost. Then I laughed like a schoolgirl on methamphetamines.

[wtmusic]

1. On a certain level I always pity the loser

They've all worked their asses off and dreamed of being POTUS. Disappointment doesn't get much bigger than that.

But that part of it is all about vanity, and there is infinitely more at stake.

[madeline_con]

8. He's been a senator for a million years.

It's not like he's lost EVERY election. He should count his blessings.

[Virginia Dare]

2. He's worked for this moment for 10 years of his life..

I just have to wonder why he chose to throw his integrity and his fairly good name down the toilet in order to go down the path of the Rovian smear machine. I guess he figured if you can't beat 'em join 'em.

Well, I guess it beat you this time McShame. Too bad, your dreams of the White House are stone cold dead now, you've burned a lot of bridges, and you've got more than a few less friends, especially across the aisle....:nopity:

[tjwash]

3. Fuck him...he could have actually changed the republican party if he gave a shit.

Instead he decided to hitch his wagon to the most extreme, vile, racist, shit-base he could find. Of course that IS the G-G-G base, just with the mask tore off of it.

The day he brought in KKKarl Rove to run his campaign...he tossed it all away. It showed everyone in the country he had no intention of fixing anything.

[Wilber_Stool]

4. I really do feel a little sorry for him.

Not only is this the second time he's lost but he'll lose by what will be the greatest landslide ever in Presidential politics. That's got to hurt.

[Crankie Avalon]

5. To be honest, I don't see him doing much of anything...

...will he even still be alive a year or two from now? Physically, he doesn't seem to be in very sound shape even for a 72 year old. Plus, his miserable disposition and lack of serenity can't be very good for his longevity, either.

[Ishoutandscream2]

10. Agreed. I guess I'm doing my best Frist imitation here

But I really believe he doesn't have many more years left on this earth.

[Evoman]

6. I don't feel sorry for the fucker.

And I think his "good name" has always been a farce. He was an asshole when he was a pilot, he was an asshole after he came back from vietnam, he was an asshole while he was a senator, and he will remain an asshole after he loses this election.

Fuck John McCain. The only way I could be happier was if he did something that put him behind bars or gave him a massive coronary.

[MiniMe]

7. He's going to Disney World !!!

Along with his Mickey Mouse Campaign.

[ProgressiveFool]

9. Ah, what could have been...

Definitely the most ineptly run campaign in my memory. Speaking objectively, McCain was the best hope out of a bad field of candidates (Ghouliani? Seriously?), but he threw it all away by a) picking Sarah Palin, and b) turning his vaunted "integrity" into an empty joke by making the campaign so nasty, and basing it so much on deception and lies, something Palin took to like a fish to water, compounding the problem even further. She was just nasty right out of the gate with that sneering, smirking acceptance speech, and her subsequent positioning of herself, a know-nothing airhead, above the press (and thereby the people) by refusing to sit for any interviews not scripted to the last period really sank her.

McCain could have run a good race (I don't think he could have won, no matter what) if he he had
a) earlier taken to criticizing Bush and the congress, both the old GOP one and the current Dem one,
b) chosen a solid VP candidate, preferably one like Tom Ridge, solid and dependable, capable, honorable, strongly centrist,
c) established himself as a centrist candidate, trying to pull the Republicans back from the Right-Wing cliff they passed over long ago,
d) run a positive campaign vis-a-vis Obama, but, as I said above, a negative one against Bush,
e) reined in the Right-Wing slime merchants and Swiftboaters,
f) not flip-flopped on his own positions to suit political winds and pandering, such as he did with the religious right, going from calling them "agents of intolerance" to kissing their asses,
g) Probably more things, but I can't think of them all right now.

Feel sorry for him? Nope - his own ambition to be president overruled his better instincts, such that in the end McCain didn't really stand for anything except himself. He threw his principles out the window, resorting to slime to try to alienate voters from Obama, and allowing his surrogates, especially including Palin, to be such truth-free slimeballs as well. He allowed them to play with fire, up to the point where his and Palin's political rallies were about to start looking like KKK rallies or Beer Hall Putsches. He really managed to bring out the worst in his supporters, while he lost the best parts of himself he had shown in the past - an instinct for fairness, moderation, love of country, service.

He will be a sad and angry old man for the rest of his days. He won't even be able to do Viagra commercials because he just won't have it in him anymore.