At the risk of being premature, it really looks like John McCain has self-destructed.

[David Zephyr]

I mean how far can this guy fall? Every single poll has him sliding further and further with voters, especially Republicans.

Newt is coming in from the right and Rudy has taken the road that McCain once traveled.

And now his age has become a topic. He'd be three years older than Ronald Reagan was when he first took office in 1981. Is that weighing McCain down or is it his hypocrisy and egomania?

Is McCain done?

I'm curious to hear what you all think.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

1. Yes he is done. He moved right and abandoned his image, history and conscience

at the worst possible time.

[efhmc]

7. He abandoned what made him a different and viable

candidate.

[Lint Head]

18. The truth will set you free.

http://www.aiipowmia.com/sea/schanberg_mccain.html

:dem:

[paparush]

31. Arbeit Macht Frei!

That's the BushCo slogan!

[Horse with no Name]

2. I think so

You just can't co-op your values to pander for votes. Everyone who has watched McCain knows what he is doing.
With his lack of support against torture and the soldiers...what used to be his best selling point (POW) has lost it's luster.
He didn't learn anything from his experience and is more than willing to allow someone else's kid to put in a worse situation than he was. Just so he can get a few votes.
In the long run, it never works out.

[Crunchy Frog]

3. I never thought he had a chance.

He simply comes off as too weak and obsequious. That doesn't sell with Repukes.

[Awsi Dooger]

40. That's exactly right

I thought he had a chance until 2005, when I started posting on some balanced political sites. The right wing posters loathe McCain and love Rudy. It spans the spectrum. Posters who I never dream would support Rudy based on their issue preference love him because he seems like a winner and talks tough. I predicted on many sites including this one that McCain's quick slide would be one of the big stories of 2008. Turned out it happened much sooner than I anticipated.

I took 10/1 on Rudy winning the GOP nod last fall. Now it's down to below 2/1. Gingrich has no chance because Republicans don't think he can win a general election. Romney has very little chance due to anti-Mormon tendencies among their voters. I didn't realize how dramatic it was until every Romney thread on those balanced sites quickly turns into, "I'm a Republican but no chance I'm voting for a Mormon."

Rudy will get the nomination unless someone like Thompson gets in and catches fire. Huckabee is an invention of progressive blogs. There is absolutely no enthusiasm for him among the right wing posters on those balanced sites.

[illinoisprogressive]

4. It's totally over for him. His sucking up to GW and the war did him in

[TwilightGardener]

5. No matter what, I have a teeny weeny soft spot for him--I feel bad for him.

[Ilsa]

12. I would have if he'd stuck by his principles.

But he turned into another GOP suck-up.

[huskerlaw]

6. Yup.

Totally done. Jumping on the Iraq train with less than 30% of the country is not the makings of a successful presidential bid.

Particularly since he kissed goodbye to moderates who used to think he was an honest sort of guy...Straight Talk Express, my ass.

[DeepBlueC]

8. Yeah

I get the sense sometimes that he can't stand himself sometimes when he is dragging out what he "ought" to say. I wish MSM would stop calling him a "maverick" because it has been a long time since he has been one. He's just not the same guy.

[Chipper Chat]

9. This here picshur dont need no xpuhnashun:

[Czolgosz]

10. Kerry also had a slump several months before the Iowa caucus. He won the nomination anyway. It's too

early to write off anyone polling in double digits and raking in serious campaign funds. Giuliani is having a "no one knows what I stand for yet" boom. He peaked WAY too early and will crash and burn. Look for Giuliani to skip the Iowa caucus to avoid an embarrassing third or fourth place finish. Just as fickle voters flocked away from McCain to Giuliani, they will flock back between now and January. The race is between McCain. Giuliani, Romney, and a fundamentalist to be named later (probably Brownback, but maybe Huckabee). But the Iowa caucus is right-wing nut territory where Giuliani will be crushed if he competes (and he knows this).

[AshevilleGuy]

24. That's right. The repukes have a machine, too! n/t

[Ilsa]

11. Toast. Sucking up to one of the most hated people in the world,

along with his promotion of the war, has done him in, I think. His age is jelly on the toast.

[liberal renegade]

13. more like

shit on a shingle...

[Double T]

14. mccain sold himself out in an attempt to be the reincarnation.........

of our existing failed decider. BOTH are finished as presidents.

[tsuki]

15. Yes, the Keating Five has bit the dust. Good. n/t

[MissWaverly]

16. I have no sympathy for him whatsoever

did he speak up in 2004 when they were making a mockery of soldiers who rec'd purple hearts
with their idiotic band aids, he surely must have visited Walter Reed, he knew how many
soldiers were coming back with shattered limbs and major injuries from IEDs and he did not
use his influence to stop it, I saw him on the Daily Show, he more or less admitted that
he didn't approve of the party line, the rabid partisanship at the convention, did he
stand up, no.

[Chipper Chat]

23. He should have bitchslapped this heifer:

but just like this sweet lady from Texas he has gone over to the dark side.

[MissWaverly]

32. We have gone over the edge of decency

I can't believe they were making fun of this, why did nobody stand up, I would never vote
for John McCain, never, ever, not for turning away from this.

[karynnj]

36. My question too - but it extends beyond the Republicans

This should have been condemned by the media. The Democrats should have made this on issue - led by someone other than Kerry. (From others, it's self righeough indignation (and the Republicans do it well even when it is fake)

[MissWaverly]

39. Exactly, the same way with torture

what made that okay, now the evangelicals are coming out and speaking out against torture,
now, after all this time, why did they wait so long and bash us for standing up and saying
this is not acceptable.

[Frogger]

17. I don't think McCain

ever had a chance. After all, he's always been the Democratic Party's favorite Republican, and their conservative base won't ever forgive him for it. IMHO.

[Crunchy Frog]

19. Welcome to DU. Always nice to see another frog around here.

:hi:

[Frogger]

33. Thanks.

I'm a long-time lurker and finally decided to join the fun.

[MadMaddie]

20. Well when he met with the Necon Dobsons of the world that

pretty much did him in.....he's a lier and a chamillion...he is willing to court anyone, anygroup to get a vote.

Bye Bye McCain...history will not remember the hero from Vietnam but they will remember a man that sold his soul, his family and his integrity to the Repbulican party.

[pnwmom]

21. He looks old, old, old to me. And ghostlier by the minute.

Can you imagine him on the same platform as Obama?

P.S. This isn't to say you can't be old and young in spirit. My MIL is in her mid nineties and she seems much younger than McCain in every way.

[salin]

22. yep. He took away the wrong lesson from the 2000 and 2004 elections

Instead of keeping his ground and waiting time (his ground gave him a really good read against the anointed one and all his campaign money) - after 2004 he seemed to think he needed to embrace and emulate bush in order to win. Fool. Had he kept his 'ground' as a maverick he probably would be running far ahead. But instead he has demonstrated that it was all an act to begin with - posturing for an image -and now he has postured for a different image altogether - and has credibility of zero with both old fans and new audiences to which he panders.

[Bolo Boffin]

25. I think he's given up.

Partly, anyway. He is an ornery old cuss.

[Clarkie1]

26. He's too old and too close to Bush. I don't think he has a chance at all. nt

[skipos]

27. He still beats many of our candidates, including HRC, in many polls.

I think Multiple Choice Romney would be much easier to beat. Dame Rudy and Weathervane McCain have been dubbed "heros" by MSM, and I doubt they will ever change their tune on that.

[Carolina]

37. I love it

Weathervane McCain!

Never did like McCain and now I loathe him. He's toast.

[opihimoimoi]

28. Too OLD and WISHY WASHY

TOAST

[trof]

29. S-h-h-h...Don't tell my state senator.

AL state repug senator Bradley Byrne, repug gov. Bob Riley, AND Mobile DA John Tyson (former DEM candidate for state AG) are all on McCain's campaign team.
:shrug:

[OHdem10]

30. I agree with you at the moment BUt

somehow I believe McCain will re-emerge and has
a good chance of being the Candidate for Republicans.

Republicans are much more loyal to their own than
Dems appear to be.

Too many Cultural Conservatives of importance
to Republicans are speaking up and surprising
to me--they do not seem to be going along with
"Win at any price." In other words they are declaring
Rudy unnacceptble. Surprisingly, these leaders
seem to be more approving of MCCain than Guilliani.
It is McCain's turn--carries weight in the party.
I could not help but wonder if this contributed
to Hagel's decision to go slow on throwing his
hat into the presidential win.

Even though, I am concerned about McCain's hawkish
tendencies--he would be a better president than
Rudy. This is my opinion. I naturally want
the Dems to win but I am free voice my opinion
on Republicans.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

34. I don't mean this to sound cruel, because he truly is an american

hero for all he suffered during the "first" Vietnam war. But I can't help but think that he is exhibiting symptoms of Stockholm Syndrome, polishing the boots of the evil men who were responsible for ruining his political career. I wonder if this is a condition that POW's carry with them in some way after years of imprisonment.

[BootinUp]

35. I'd watch for Fred T.

His little play on Sunday is likely to stir up support imho...

As for McCain, I don't know what to think at this point. I don't believe Guliani nor Gingrich can survive through the campaign season, too many fatal blow possibilities.

[candice]

38. After Karl Rove demolished McCain in South Carolina,

he hugged Judas and sealed his destiny.