I see a lot of postings on the Net which describe John McCain as a bad candidate in the 2008 election. I don't think he was. If you look at the Real Clear Politics polling data, four years ago, John McCain started off well behind, but in early September pulled ahead of Barack Obama. Then the economy tanked. Nobody could have coped with that. John McCain was not an “economic expert” candidate; he was running his campaign on foreign policy and national defense issues, and the ground shifted. On top of that, McCain was of the same party as the incumbent President, George W. Bush, and bad economic performance hurt him only because voters blamed Bush, and consequently, the Republicans, for the economic problems. McCain, who led by one percentage point, 46.7 to 45.7%, on September 7 and opened up a lead as big as 3 points on one day shortly thereafter, was back down to a tie on the 17th.
No question that Barack Obama is good at campaigning. He knew how to game the rules to beat a clearly front-running Hillary Clinton for the 2008 nomination, but probably won the general election only because of the timing of the economic news. I am certain that if the economy's collapse had taken place two months later, John McCain would be sitting in the White House today, with perhaps Senator Hillary Clinton the Democratic nominee challenging his re-election campaign.
In some ways, Mitt Romney is the polar opposite of Barack Obama. Obama is a great campaigner, but has proven himself an incompetent executive. The worst President since Jimmy Carter, Obama has managed to gain support from, if anything, more voters than Mitt Romney simply because of his campaigning skills. While, by contrast, Mitt Romney is not as skilled at campaigning as at running things: a business, like Bain Capital, a nonprofit, like the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Committee, and a State, as Governor of Massachusetts. He's a kind and generous man (how many people would, if they had Romney's wealth, give $4 million to charity in one year? or close down a business to track down an employee's missing daughter?). Yet he has apparently not gotten this across to the public, which thinks Obama — the nastiest kind of Chicago machine politician — is “more likeable” than Mitt Romney. Somehow, though by all reasonable measures, Mitt Romney ought to be ahead in 49 states, Obama leads — although by a small amount — in most polls. This may be becuse he's an honest man, who says what he thinks, unlike most politicians, so he manages to offend some people. And yet, I'm sure that unlike Obama, if Romney succeeds in getting elected, he will do a much better job of actually governing than he has done in running for the office.
No question that Barack Obama is good at campaigning. He knew how to game the rules to beat a clearly front-running Hillary Clinton for the 2008 nomination, but probably won the general election only because of the timing of the economic news. I am certain that if the economy's collapse had taken place two months later, John McCain would be sitting in the White House today, with perhaps Senator Hillary Clinton the Democratic nominee challenging his re-election campaign.
In some ways, Mitt Romney is the polar opposite of Barack Obama. Obama is a great campaigner, but has proven himself an incompetent executive. The worst President since Jimmy Carter, Obama has managed to gain support from, if anything, more voters than Mitt Romney simply because of his campaigning skills. While, by contrast, Mitt Romney is not as skilled at campaigning as at running things: a business, like Bain Capital, a nonprofit, like the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Committee, and a State, as Governor of Massachusetts. He's a kind and generous man (how many people would, if they had Romney's wealth, give $4 million to charity in one year? or close down a business to track down an employee's missing daughter?). Yet he has apparently not gotten this across to the public, which thinks Obama — the nastiest kind of Chicago machine politician — is “more likeable” than Mitt Romney. Somehow, though by all reasonable measures, Mitt Romney ought to be ahead in 49 states, Obama leads — although by a small amount — in most polls. This may be becuse he's an honest man, who says what he thinks, unlike most politicians, so he manages to offend some people. And yet, I'm sure that unlike Obama, if Romney succeeds in getting elected, he will do a much better job of actually governing than he has done in running for the office.
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