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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 November 1 , 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;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="style4">G</span>OP Presidential nominee Sen. John McCain s (R-Ariz.) final days in the bunker before Nov. 4 are spent blowing smoke to the media, hoping, against all odds, to get out his ever-shrinking base.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>So-called  undecided voters, estimated at around 10-12% of remaining voters, seem headed toward the perceived  winner, something referred to by political scientists as the  bandwagon effect. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whether you believe it or not, last minute deciders like to throw their vote to a winner, not waste it on a failed candidate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>  We re pretty jazzed up about what were seeing the movement of the election, said McCain s chief smoke blower, campaign manager Rick Davis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Davis reads the same polls as everyone else showing Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il.) with a sizable, but, more importantly, stable lead heading into Election Day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Davis isn t  jazzed, he s just playing games.</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>There s nothing in the tealeaves to verify Davis contention that an improbable comeback is in the works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> We are witnessing, I believe, probably one of the greatest comebacks that you ve seen since John McCain won the primary, Davis told a press conference call, getting the intended effect of more Internet headlines.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Key to understanding Davis words are  I believe and  probably, a personal belief of McCain and his inner circle that borders on delusional when you read any reputable polls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>All reputable polls point toward an Election Day rout, something akin to Ronald Reagan s 1980 landslide over former President Jimmy Carter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain s communication team can only spin as much as possible between now and Nov. 4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Communication experts pay close attention to parsing of words, where Davis can barely deliver the  comeback message with a straight face.</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 last-ditch argument has centered on pleading with voters to not allow Democrats to control the House, Senate and presidency, essentially conceding massive losses to the GOP on Nov. 4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>What McCain and the GOP haven t yet got is that voters are  mad as hell about President George W. Bush s track record as president.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Voters now get to pay back the incumbent s party for mismanaging the country for the last eight years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>While Obama s election is all but guaranteed, the real question after Election Day is what happens to the Republican Party.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain never quite fit into today s GOP, dominated by religious conservatives, no longer representing mainstream Republicans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>There s been recent chatter about positioning Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for a possible run in 2012, especially outrageous when you consider her presence on the ticket wrecked McCain s chances.</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 miscalculations were numerous but nothing more egregious than picking a little known, inexperienced running mate, whose claim-to-fame was firing up what s left of Bush s evangelical base.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain s brain-trust actually thought they d pick up disgruntled  Hillary supporters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>They couldn t have gotten it more wrong, as Palin turned off most independently-minded women voters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Evangelicals, led by Rev. James Dobson, now urge the Party to consider Palin for 2012, a certain disaster as it was in 2008.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Depending the size of McCain s loss, the Party will be forced to reinvent itself after Bush, through his chief strategist Karl Rove, turned the GOP into a Christian-right party, alienating voters changing demographics, especially Latinos.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain s pick of  Joe the Plumber and Palin s pick of  Joe Six-pack, shows they ve grown out-of touch with mainstream voters. </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 the Republican Party was formed in 1856 by anti-slavery activists, the traditional Whig Party fell into disrepute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Rove s theory about exploiting evangelicals was based on a false premise about how Bush beat former Vice President Al Gore in 2000.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Rove read too much into Bush s squeaker, actually decided in the U.S. Supreme Court, when they ended Florida s manual recount.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>He misread Bush s loyalty to religious conservatives as responsible for his narrow victory.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When you look at the record, it s clear that Gore ran a poor campaign and former President Bill Clinton s Monica Lewinsky sex scandal turned off many voters, so-called  Clinton fatigue. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Sept. 11 rocketed Bush s approval ratings into the stratosphere, helping him get reelected in 2004.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Only a year-and-a-half into the Iraq War, voters weren t willing to change horses in 2004, narrowly defeating Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).</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 campaign has run out of gas before Nov. 4 with nothing left in the tank but hot-air.  Obviously, we ve had a lot of ups and downs in the course of this race, and the one that that has been the standard that the McCain campaign has created is that we fight back, said Davis, giving a truer picture of the sinking feeling inside the McCain campaign.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Davis knows that no management team deserves to be hired again with the GOP track record over the past eight years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whether you blame it on Bush or not, the Party must suck it up and take its lumps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When the dust settles after next Tuesday, the GOP must take an honest inventory of what went wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Already thinking of Palin in 2012 spells the end of Republican Party as we know it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whether it goes the way of the Whigs is anyone s guess.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>One thing s for sure:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Rove  genius and dynasty is now in the wrecking yard.</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>