ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist®.com: Putin Punishes Georgia</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style2 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; } .style3 { height: 69px; } .MsoNormal {} .style4 { font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> <table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr height="79"> <td width="133" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" height="79" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="79"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="624" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0" class="style3"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#8226; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#8226; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#8226; <a href="teflon.html"> THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#8226; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> REACTIONS</a> &#8226; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td width="133" height="2">&nbsp;</td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <p class="style2">McCain&#39;s Miscalculation</p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curtis</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b><a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b> (310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright October 24, 2008<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="style4">S</span>en. John McCain (R-Ariz.) beat some powerhouse candidates en route to the Republican presidential nomination, including dispatching once frontrunner former N.Y. Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts s Gov. Mitt Romney.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Ohio and Texas put McCain over the top March 4, a full three months before Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il) finally put away Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) June 3 after the South Dakota and Montana primaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain s primary victory was a cakewalk compared to Barack s, whose eventual victory came with price.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Hillary pushed Barack to the wall, beating up the 47-year-old junior Illinois senator until the final voters were tallied in Montana.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Hillary ran a far more bruising campaign than McCain, whose major blunder involved picking Aug. 29 Alaska Gov. Sara Palin, a lightening rod for right wing ideology and dissent.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>McClain picked Palin because she s a  maverick, like the rebellious former Vietnam prisoner of war, whose reputation for bucking the system preceded his White House run.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Since declaring Feb. 28, 2007, McCain has cozied-up to President George W. Bush, hoping to win support of the president s elusive base.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Despite endorsing Bush s tax cuts and declaring himself pro-life, McCain couldn t sway the base, preferring during the primaries former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, a former Baptist preacher and favorite with evangelicals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Watching the eventual presidential nominee wow Democratic National Convention, McCain felt he had to do something radical to stem what looked like unstoppable momentum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>His brain-trust, including chief strategists, Steve Schmidt and Charlie Black and campaign manger Rick Davis urged McCain to pick the little-known Alaska governor.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>McCain s strategists hoped to pick-up disgruntled Hillary supporters, something improbable when you consider Palin s reactionary bent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Hillary supporters weren t about to endorse an XX chromosome without embracing a typical feminist agenda, especially Roe v. Wade, the federal right to abortion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Within two weeks after delivering her ballsy, Dem-bashing acceptance speech Sept. 4, Palin s popularity plummeted among Reagan Democrats, independents and moderate Republicans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Only 28% of the electorate, corresponding to Bush s current approval ratings, supports Palin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Recent polls have shown abysmal support among crossover Democrats, independents and moderate Republicans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain s once-thought of brilliant pick blew up in his face, leaving his campaign in shambles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While McCain insists everyone got it wrong, Palin has been a disaster.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>When Palin s  troopergate problems hit the headlines Aug. 30, only one day after McCain announced his VP pick, the impulsive choice hit the campaign like a bad virus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Things worsened Oct. 11 when a Republican-leaning state ethics panel found Palin<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>guilty of an ethics breach for firing State Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan July 11 for refusing to fire Palin s ex-brother-in-law state trooper Mike Wooten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Apart from this embarrassment, it s Palin s political views that have proven so damaging to McCain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Picking Palin killed McCain s chances of attracting Reagan Democrats, independents and moderate Republicans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Had he picked either former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney or former Penn. Gov. Tom Ridge, McCain would have given Obama a run for his money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whether he would have won is anyone s guess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>More honest analysis has McCain losing either way.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Claiming he has one more comeback left, McCain barnstormed over an ever-shrinking electoral map, showing Obama leading in most battleground states.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>With 11 days left before the election, McCain finds himself spread all over the map, unable to stop his opponent s momentum heading into Nov. 4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Many expected McCain to surge in the polls after shellacking Obama the final debate Oct. 16 at Hofstra University in Hemstead, Long Island N.Y.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Watching Obama take a beating was painful for those expecting responses to McCain s attacks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Obama kept his cool and let McCain stay on the attack, treating viewers to what looked like a hothead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Four days later, McCain suffered another blow watching former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell endorse Obama on NBC s  Meet the Press. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Since then, McCain s numbers have been in a kind of freefall.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>McCain failed his first test of presidential decision-making picking Palin as his running mate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Despite McCain defending her credentials, Powell indicated she was not qualified for VP, let alone president.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He echoed the same sentiments of other Republicans, including Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.), also agreeing that Palin lacked the experience and expertise for either West Wing or the Oval Office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Recent polls show that McCain s slide correlated as much with Palin as the deteriorated U.S. economy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Picking Palin put considerable doubt in voters minds about McCain s judgment, causing the tectonic shift to Barack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain has hit Barack with everything but the kitchen sink and still finds his campaign in quicksand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>With Bush s approval ratings sinking to new lows, Palin captured his ever-shrinking base.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>After Nov. 4, McCain will have a lot of time to figure out what went wrong.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;<bAbout the Author</u><b>John M. Curtis</b> writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.&nbsp; He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of <i><a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a> </i>and <i><a href="books.html"> Operation Charisma</a></i>.</p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td width="133" height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="133" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> Home</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> || <a href="articlesindex.html">Articles</a> || <a href="books.html">Books</a> || <a href="teflon.html">The Teflon Report</a> || <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com"> Reactions</a> || <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">About Discobolos</a></strong></font> <div align="left"> <p><font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">This site designed, developed and hosted by the experts at</font><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"> <a href="http://www.cmeonline.net" target="_blank"><img height="30" width="138" src="images/cmelogoANIM.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></a></font></p> </div> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">©1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"> Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>