Never Underestimate McCain, But ... (Time.com)

[bunkerbuster1]

To paraphrase Pee Wee Herman: I want to hear more about your big "but"!

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1825337,00.html?imw=Y

John McCain might seem like a long shot. He's the Republican nominee at a time when the two-term Republican President is wildly unpopular and Republicans are losing elections in perennially Republican districts and the party base isn't exactly drooling over him. He supported the president's unpopular efforts to transform Iraq and revamp Social Security; he was against the Bush tax cuts before he was for them. He's a 71-year-old Washington hand in a change election. And his 46-year-old opponent is a lot better at raising money, delivering speeches, drawing crowds and registering new voters.

Oh, let's just admit it: John McCain is a long shot. He's got a heroic personal story, and being white has never hurt a presidential candidate, but on paper 2008 just doesn't look like his year. And considering what's happening off paper, it might be time to ask the question the horse-race-loving media are never supposed to ask: Is McCain a no-shot?

Last week, the McCain campaign's case against Barack Obama went something like this: He's irresponsible when it comes to Iraq, naive when it comes to Iran, and a big-government liberal when it comes to the economy. But now Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has more or less endorsed Obama's plan to withdraw from Iraq, forcing McCain to argue that Maliki didn't really mean it, and even the Bush administration has accepted a "time horizon" for withdrawal, if not a precise "timetable." The Bush administration has also engaged in some diplomatic outreach with Iran, just as Obama has recommended, a severe blow to McCain's efforts to portray Obama's willingness to talk as appeasement. And on the economy, a TIME/Rockefeller Foundation poll found that 82% of the country supports more federal infrastructure spending designed to create jobs. When big-government liberalism is all the rage, McCain's courage in opposing water projects or the farm bill becomes less of a selling point.

McCain has struggled to find his voice in this environment. His initial reaction to the foreclosure crisis boiled down to old-fashioned conservative self-reliance, which went over like a lead balloon, and was eventually replaced with a more aggressive plan for government assistance. He has changed or shaded his positions on offshore drilling, the estate tax, ethanol, immigration and a host of other issues. He can't seem to decide whether to run as a maverick and risk demoralizing a GOP base that already mistrusts him, or run as a conservative and risk alienating swing voters who already miss the John McCain of 2000. And his campaign — which already survived a near-death experience in the primary — is in seemingly perpetual turmoil.

[groovedaddy]

1. "but the surge worked and Obama was against it!" is now McBush's mantra

Not sure what that proves...Iraqis clearly want the occupation to end.

[World Citizen]

2. as Biden said last week re. Iraq...

there is some confusion about defining the enemy.

John McCain is not the enemy. He is a puppet with huge money and power pulling his strings. Do not underestimate them.

[bunkerbuster1]

3. I sure don't.

I figure everyone could enjoy this bit of fluff, though, which pretty much mirrors what much of the voting public probably thinks about McCain at this point.

I wouldn't put it past the ruling class to find a "health issue" that'd force McCain out and install they they probably wanted all along, Romney.