McCain is going to be the nominee because he's the only one who has a rat's ass of a chance [View All]

[calteacherguy]

against any of our candidates.

Evidence for my assertion:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Republican presidential field appears to face a tough general election fight in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Saturday.

John McCain was the most favorably viewed of any GOP candidate, a poll found.

According to the survey, both of the Democratic front-runners, Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois, hold mostly double-digit -- and statistically identical -- advantages over Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee, drawing greater than 50 percent support in each hypothetical matchup.

The Republican candidate who gives Clinton and Obama the closest race in the new poll is Arizona Sen. John McCain, who is essentially tied with both: He draws the support of 48 percent of those surveyed to Clinton's 50 percent and Obama's 49 percent.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/12/poll.matchups/index.html

Therefore the question becomes, who best to defeat him? The polls don't help us, because they show the race statistically tied between McCain and Clinton, or McCain and Obama.

To answer the question, "who best to defeat him?" we must consider the potential of our eventual nominee to broaden the base of the party, and bring in new voters. Obama wins in this category hands down. He has proven that he attracts more independents and even some Republicans than Clinton, and he is bringing more young people into the process who in Iowa proved that this time around, yes, they actually do and will vote.

We need a candiate who has been consistently against the war, to contrast with McCain's unabashed support of the war. We can't have a candidate, like Clinton, who can be portrayed as supporting the war and then flip-flopping.

We need a uniter, not a divider. Fair or not, Clinton has and will continue to be perceived as more partisan and divisive than McCain. Her negatives are just too high to overcome it. Obama has built his whole campaign on the hope and promise of uniting America behind a common vision.

Finally, Obama's youth would provide a great contrast to McCain's wrinkled visage. America wants change, and change will come from a new generation of Americans inspiring all generations of Americans.

For who best to defeat McCain, the advantage is clearly with Obama.