Comments on: McCain’s Path to Victory

By: The Crossed Pond » The Horserace Baseline

The Crossed Pond » The Horserace Baseline — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:02:59 +0000

[...] James Joyner concurs, and in response to Rojas’ question, notes that the increase in Obama numbers is going to come from partisans—which is where the rise in McCain’s numbers have come from (excepting the last few weeks, where has has improved among independents somewhat also, relative to Obama and Clinton). Just as Republicans who favored other candidates in the primaries rallied to McCain after absorbing the reality, so will supporters of the loser mostly rally for the Democrats. While some Clinton supporters will switch to McCain, or sit out, if Obama wins and vice-versa, those numbers are likely to be negligible. The current polls reflect passion for candidates who still have a change; ultimately, partisans will revert to form. [...]

By: NHCt

NHCt — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 19:41:26 +0000

A major problem for McCain is that the media have been even more favorable to him than Obama. He's gotten lazy in front of a microphone, because his gaffes always went unreported. That's starting to change and it's only going to get worse. The GOP needs to be very worried about this. For someone who's been in the limelight for so many years, most Americans know bupkus about him. The Dems are in as great a position to define him as the GOP with Obama. It'll be interested to see who comes out on top.

By: Hal

Hal — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 19:28:32 +0000

Bored, I think.

touché

By: Dave Schuler

Dave Schuler — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:49:13 +0000

if the press has a feather-light treatment of Obama, how do we classify it's treatment of McCain?

Bored, I think.

By: cian

cian — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:35:28 +0000

on the most critical issue of our times- the war and should we remain or start to pull out- the country disagrees with McCain's position in huge numbers, and this is unlikely to change.

The Democrats' message will be simple, if you believe a change is needed, you need to vote democrat, otherwise you are voting for a third Bush term.

With McCain in the white house, the next six months will feel like a hundred years.

By: Hal

Hal — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:27:12 +0000

His decades of experience/he’s older than the hills. Well, there's that and the fact that he's literally grafted himself to Iraq. I suspect that the feather-light treatment that Sen. Obama has received until rather recently from the press will work against him. Perhaps, but then if the press has a feather-light treatment of Obama, how do we classify it's treatment of McCain? So in addition to his experience and having the Lieberman seal of bipartisanship, I think we can pretty much classify the bended knee upon which the Press reports about McCain as a significant advantage regardless of who he runs against.

By: Bithead

Bithead — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:17:33 +0000

I wasn't in love with Johnnie Mac, but have slowly warmed up

I have yet to 'warm' to him... if I ever will... but have decided that he's by far a better choice than either Clinton or Obama.

By: Magnus

Magnus — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:16:08 +0000

I'm not a big McCain fan by any stretch but I am a lot more comfortable with "old as the hills" than "empty-suit." I think that closer scrutiny post-convention will expose the Obamessiah for the charlatan that he so clearly is.

By: charles austin

charles austin — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:43:14 +0000

It will be interesting to see how well Big Media's love for The Maverick holds up once he's running against a Democrat rather than a Republican, especially a Democrat that large sections of Big Media swoon over.

By: Dave Schuler

Dave Schuler — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:29:36 +0000

I suspect that the feather-light treatment that Sen. Obama has received until rather recently from the press will work against him. After his formal nomination he'll be subject to a lot more scrutiny, all in a shot, than he's received in his entire life.

It might be a very short honeymoon.

By: Elmo

Elmo — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 14:27:09 +0000

Obama .... His charisma, youth, and energy

McCain’s only real advantage will also be his greatest liability: His decades of experience/he’s older than the hills.

I wasn't in love with Johnnie Mac, but have slowly warmed up. And yes, he does indeed have some personality, that I would not discount.

Signed: Partisan Hack.