John McCain Won't Do The Dole

"I'm an American and I choose to fight."

Me too, Senator McCain. That's why I'm doing everything I can to make sure you get your a$$ kikked on Tuesday.

John McCain will carry his nastiness right to the end. This gives us the choice between an Obama Nation and an abomination. .............

http://thefiresidepost.com/2008/11/01/obama-nation-or-abomination/

Good story MS.
But McCain's "I'm a fighter" stuff echos Dole's "Where is the outrage" to me.

Sounds like a guy who likes to shoot craps, to me.

I saw a clip on the news last night of McCain at some event shadowboxing and pounding his fist into his palm. It was disconcerting and a bit pathetic to be honest.

about those mason-dixon polls they seem to be pointing to now:
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http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/11/house-effects-in-action.html
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how common is it to do a commedy skit 3 days before an ellection?
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MS,
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I have a legit question. People keep up this meme of McCain being a "strong closer" and that he does his best "when he is coming from behind". Other than last year when his problems were more financial than having anything to do with voting or polls, how many close elections has McCain been in when he pulled it out at the end? How many of his senate contests were close? We obviously know he got destroyed in 2000 by GWB. So i am just trying to get a sense of how he earned the monkier of being a great closer. Any insight on that?

Oh and btw MS,
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Did you see the story on fivethirtyeight.com where they went by a McCain campaign office 72 hours out and it looked like a ghost town at the Santa Rosa office in Florida?

sgwhite - I think it's a biography meme about survival. the plane crashes, the POW experience. It's more about "you can't keep him down" than any experience with being a strong closer. And, as Jayack says, it's about being a gambler. It's about the adrenaline of a gambler and a pilot.
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I wonder what made him think the American people want to fight. Very tired of fighting. Let's cooperate for a change.

Thank goodness McCain is the underdog right now, but MS, in what sense has underdoggyness defined McCain's political career? He's always had his back story and his wife's wealth and connections to rely on in his adopted state. Bush sleazed McCain out of the way in 2000, but then Bush was the underdog, and he did what it took to slander McCain in a state where slander could work. Enough with the BBQ fumes already.

I wonder what made him think the American people want to fight.

That's the perplexing thing about this campaign to me: who is McCain talking to? From refighting the '60s Weatherman Wars to comparing Obama to Herbert Hoover to dwelling on Joe the Plumber far too long, who was his audience?

No dumde, Bush was the annointed and McCain was the maverick underdog. That's when Salter and Weaver created that character, and McCain played it through 2004. He gave it up completely when he picked Palin.
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But, yes, I do believe "undecideds" will break 3-1 for McCain.

Kathy,
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I would agree with you but for the fact that surrogates including Mike Scherer frame the story in terms of elections not about his POW experience. Flacks like Tucker Bounds keep saying that McCain is best when he is an underdog. I am just looking for some justification for that kind of rhetoric and because it was on diplay in MS's article.
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It is the underdog position that McCain has long embraced, and the old warrior shows no sign of letting up now.
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I thought he might have some insight into it. Somehow I doubt he will be responding to my question though.

From refighting the '60s Weatherman Wars to comparing Obama to Herbert Hoover to dwelling on Joe the Plumber far too long, who was his audience?
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Nixon's Silent Majority. PUMAs. This has worked for them in the past. There are just fewer of those people now, and things are considerably worse. Rove was well aware of the former; it's why he wanted an immigration policy Hispanics would find attractive. They needed to replace their aging base.

Tuesday night can't come too soon.

i just realized, election night is going to be terrifying until the reassuring numbers come in... (knock on wood)

Jayackroyd:

"I do believe "undecideds" will break 3-1 for McCain."

Everywhere, or are you talking about Pennsylvania in particular?
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Davemc321:

"who is McCain talking to?"

Given that he's banking on some sort of Bradley effect in PA, and that he's been running with a Southern Strategy for a long time now, John McCain is betting his campaign on fear and hate.

The owner of the Phila Eagles, Jeffrey Lourie, said in an interview in the Phila Inq today that he is supporting and voting for Obama. In the past, he has made contribs to both parties, but his wife has contributed to more Democratic campaigns. They supported Hillary in the primary -- said he was shocked to learn on primary day that he couldn't vote for her because he was registered non-partisan! When she lost, they decided to support Obama. He said in his tax bracket it was against his fiscal interests, but the Obama choice was far better for the county. Very interesting.

Jay,
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I will be the first to admit I might be wrong but as I remember it McCain was the frontrunner at first in 2000 because of his hero status. Didnt he win a few primaries? I think Bush was the "annointed" but he was also initially an underdog. Most people thought Jeb should have been the one running not GW. Again I could be wrong but thats how I remember it being right up to the SC primary

Thsnks for the inside view MS. Certainly the poll numbers are closer than in 1996. An even more extreme case is Mondale, he was told to "campaign to make your grandchildren proud" at the end.

ivb,
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The only thing about that though is from my short period of time in Philly I remember not that many people were very enamored of Lourie. I have heard that people are coming around to him but will anybody really care what he thinks in Pennsylvania? I always thought him an odd bird. Something he has a lot in common with a lot of other NFL owners.

sgw, Lourie does not have a great fan base and the article was on the inner pages of the sports section. One reason he is odd in the NFL group is because he has a graduate degree.
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I was just interested to see someone like him who you would guess would be a Repub (particularly because Ed Snider is such a winger) felt this was important enough to want to express his support for Obama publically.

ivb i believe that the Rooney family of Steelers fame are behind Obama as is I believe but am not sure the Colts owner. The NFL owners realize how important it is to have regular folks with money in their pockets. They are almost entirely dependent on fans and not just those who buy tickets to the game. That includes those who can afford to pay for cable or satellite every month and those who can afford to buy offically NFL licensed products. You would also be surprised how many team owners have grad degrees. I have spent some time with Lourie and he was odd to me because he just had a weird dispositon and way of thinking about things. Dare I say some what elitest also but in the same breadth wanting to be seen as a man of the people. But that was just my impression of the man and I could be wrong.

I'm sure it's been mentioned by you folks many times, but how many have really considered why McCain became the Republican nominee? The right wingers, as had been stated, HATED him. The true silent kindofmajority of the Republican Party were the moderates who figured only a moderate Republican could get elected. They thought McCain was a moderate. I bought that he was a moderate. Turns out he was just an opportunistic politician with absolutely, positively, no imagination (except what he "imagined" of Palin), no sincere ideology, no view of the future, and a passable sense of humor.

If he ran his whole race Obama positive with white skin and brought Mitt Romney in as VP he could very well be pulling away right now. Sure, I'd rather have Obama imagination, but nobody ever accused the great un-elite of the US electorate of having much foresight or grasp of the possibilities. Why change the dern oil if the engine'sa makin' a little noise?