McCain is the weakest rival the Democrats have ever faced. Obama will crush him

[jasonkrueger]

He does not have support within his party. Let alone America.

[MnFats]

1. Weaker than Dole? ahh, you may be right.

at every appearance the applause is only polite. Nobody is excited about him, even those working his campaign.

[grytpype]

26. McCain IS this year's Bob Dole... real old, it's his turn, war hero, etc....

And he's going to go down just like Dole... he has no base whatsoever... Repugs are not going to turn out for him especially if Obama is the Dem candidate!

[Eric J in MN]

2. McCain has charisma and the pundits adore him.

They call him a "maverick" and a "moderate."

Those words can sway a lot of voters.

[ctaylors6]

4. I also think he got lots of indep fans when he ran against bush in 2000 w/straight talk express

[Purveyor]

6. Oh just stop it. Did you watch McCain's address tonight AFTER the Obama address?

I almost felt sorry for the pitiful old 'retiring fucks' that had to stand behind him on stage.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

10. Seriously. What, were there like 20 people there?

I listened to his speech and Obama's on POTUS XM. Barack spoke in a stadium while McCain spoke at what sounded like a Best Western conference room.

[calmblueocean]

17. I'm trying to remain wary of McCain, but the juxtaposition of their speeches tonight made me snicker

You ever wait for a plane, sitting in the airport, listening to music on headphones, and then the song ends, and you hear some droning voice over the loudspeaker announcing plane delays?

That's pretty much it.

[Purveyor]

3. And sweep in a filibuster proof Senate. With Hillary as the nominee that most likely won't happen..

[Eric J in MN]

22. We can hope for 60 Democratic Senators via the 2010 election, but...

...we're not getting 60 Democratic Senators via the 2008 election, no matter who the nominee is.

[BeyondGeography]

5. The Republican nominee always looks inferior

and, almost invariably, they win.

It will take a lot to beat him. Don't kid yourself.

[Name removed]

18. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Frances]

7. I remember when my undefeated high school team

was about to play our chief rival, which had had a lacklustre season.

Everyone was talking about how many points we would win by.

Then our coach said he just hoped we'd win because overconfidence was a huge problem.

Our rivals tied us.

Ever since then, I have been hesitant to brag before the game is won.

[JimGinPA]

8. After 2006...

The Repugs saw the handwriting... I believe he's their sacrificial lamb. BushCo's final dirty trick on him.

[NanceGreggs]

11. Agreed.

They know they can't win this. Give McCain 'his turn', let him lose big-time, then blame the loss on McCain (wrong message, not conservative enough, etc.), instead of on the fact that even the Repubs don't want another four-eight years of their own in the WH after BushCo.

[AtomicKitten]

9. McCain is toast because Obama cuts into indies and even Rs.

Obama will spank him hard in November.

[liberalnurse]

12. Have you taken into consideration

that Obama has yet to be aggressively challenged? Every time the Clinton Team would attack even the slightest; the media would go after Clinton and essentially create a firewall for Obama. That's going to end if he gets the nomination as republican's will unite and they own the media as well. McCain's deals are being brokered as we spin in our cloud of false hope.

[Neshanic]

13. I do not think they have thought of that yet.

[jackson_dem]

14. You're fooling yourself

McCain is the strongest candidate they have fielded since Reagan. The thing holding him back is the sorry record of the last seven years but even despite that he is competitive with the Democrats. Obama would be a godsend for McCain because it allows him to have the election be about his strength, which happens to be his opponent's weakness: security.

[JimGinPA]

24. Don't Think For A Minute...

Obama is going to allow them to frame the debate! He's Waaaay to sharp for that.

[Wizard777]

15. Obama doesn't have to. The Republicans will crush Mc Cain.

[HeraldSquare212]

16. He's been pretty laid back as a campaigner - not really exerting himself.

I don't think he'll be able to keep up, schedule-wise, and eventually that will be commented upon in the press.

[juajen]

23. Perhaps because he knows how it all plays out.

We keep warning you people. Please underestimate them at your peril.

[HeraldSquare212]

25. I suppose, but his one campaign stop in Virginia was a press conference.

He couldn't even do one small rally just for appearances?

[Thrill]

19. McCain says Less jobs, More wars

[griffi94]

20. maybe

but mccain is already running against obama....i just read a piece over at salon
he's gonna be more formidable than you think....dismiss him at yer peril

[jaysunb]

21. Please, let them nominate him....

it won't take a lot of time or money to define him and his vision of the future, and it will be Bob Dole redux.... the repubs and their enablers know it. They've already went into hibernation to count up their plunder and ponder the next raid on us, the American people.

[onenote]

27. Don't underestimate mccain. He will be tougher than you think.

However, over the course of the campaign, I think he will screw up enough to ensure a Democratic victory. But in a lot of key states, he will start out ahead of either Obama or HRC. His biggest problem is going to be how to get the fundies and rushbots to get on board. His other problem is that in a growing number of states and congressional districts, repub incumbents are bailing out which means two things: no reverse coattails (i.e., the local incumbent's organization won't be pulling voters to the polls) and a lot of competition for money, since the non incumbent won't have the same access to campaign cash as the incumbents and the fundie/rushbots aren't going to be in a big hurry to toss $$ at McCain.