John McCain Has Become A Rather Pathetic Figure

[DemocratSinceBirth]

It's kind of sad. Not that I was fond of the 00 version of John McCain but at least that John McCain seemed authentic. In fending off the Teabaggers it's as if he put his principles in a lock box.


He must be simmering inside.

And he's losing to that D.J. (sic) Hayworth fellow.

[KharmaTrain]

1. Too Smart By Half...

I see this guy constantly simmering...even when things are going right. His marvel has been his ability to play the media and generate a lot of positive PR that always outweighs his negatives. He should have been expelled from the Senate for his role in the Keating Five but was able to spin it into his "maverick" personna. But then when the '08 nomination was dangeled in front of him...the opportunist came to the front...thinking he could grab the "conservatives" and the moderates. He guessed wrong and then thought if he pandered to the right, that would save his ass. It won't.

Honestly I don't see Gramps losing to Hayworth...no matter how unhinged the GOOP is. The fact he's fighting for his political life says more about how things have passed him by...

[DemocratSinceBirth]

3. Some Of Our Guys Were Part Of The Keating Mess

I am not defending McCain but wasn't his role the most peripheral of the five.

I do think at his core he's not a Teabagger or shares their values.

[KittyWampus]

7. He literally has no core except what Mark Salter invented for him. Except for a spoiled rich kid

who existed on his Daddy's coattails and accomplished nothing on/as his own.

[KharmaTrain]

15. He's Definitely Not A Teabagger...

You can see how uncomfortable he was being at that rally...and having to depend on Mooselini to bail him out. He knew they were there to see her, not him...that's gotta grind at that massive ego of his. But you gotta do what you gotta do.

I think McCain's flip-flops on almost every major issue from Gitmo detainees to the bail-out (that he voted for) to campaign finance reform (that he forgot he co-sponsored) to immigration reform, he's shown how much his "principals" go by the wayside when he needs votes or money.

[saltpoint]

35. Yes -- he was miserable. He looked awkward and clumsy and

not quite 'present.' More than usual, I mean.

[mulsh]

31. McCain walked away with the largest bribe, $195,000.00 and

most perks, 3 all expense paid vacations at Keating's place in the Bahamas, and pretty l;iberal use of Charles Keating's private jet. the four other pols got a couple of grand each. Somehow he managed to get portrayed as "the least culpable". Somehow he managed to hire the best spinmeisters and MSM broadcasters money & access can buy.

[RagAss]

2. True. He has no direction other than to hold on to his identity as a senator.

[Bitwit1234]

30. He is pathetic he is desperate you can see it in his face.

[Christa]

4. I watched him on tv with Sarah Palin yesterday

He really looked pathetic, as always.

[kywildcat]

5. He's addled. Clearly. nt

[opihimoimoi]

6. saw some of the McCain/Palure thingy...both are on STRIDENT LEVEL W ATTENDENT VOLUME

Bad shit...not gonna work...stridency hints of urgency = hints of LOSING = desperation

Gramps shoulld hang it up

[Vinca]

8. I actually felt sorry for him when Mooseburger took a shot at his age.

I thought his head was going to explode.

[PCIntern]

9. Please don't EVER feel sorry for these Republicans...

they count on our humanism and sincerety and our empathy. They will, in a flash, kick us in the nuts.

[WVRICK13]

14. Sorrow For Such An Asshole

is a wasted emotion.

[Stinky The Clown]

10. Like far too mnay people, he is willing to abandon even core principles for a win.

Go Team.

[KittyWampus]

12. He has no core principles and never had any. He is entirely an invention of Mark Salter.

[BootinUp]

20. I could never stand him myself

I always smelled something rotten in the air.

[tanyev]

11. Maybe he'll really go ballistic on the Teahadists if he loses his primary.

One can hope.

[DaveinJapan]

13. He sold his soul in 2008, he became pathetic then and now it's just par for the course. nt

[GoCubsGo]

34. He never had a soul to sell...

Look at his history going back at least as far as his days in the Naval Academy. He was pathetic even back then. Nothing but a punkass--from Day 1.

[TheCowsCameHome]

16. You betcha. JD Haystack has reduced him to a puddle.

Here is the man who thought he was qualified enough to be president having to call in a freshman senator (Scott Brown) and wacko woman (Sarah Palin) to try to bail his withering chestnuts out of the fire in his home state.

He is pathetic.

[rurallib]

17. sadly he'll only have Cindy's gazillions to comfort him in his old age

and eleventy houses.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

18. What If She Leaves Him?

~

[rurallib]

21. he'll have to depend on the lobbyists - er - wait - no he can't

maybe he'll get alimony.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

19. No sympathy here.

The reasons why have been more than adequately described in the above posts.

FUCK HIM.


What's next?

[graywarrior]

22. He deserves whatever he gets

I have no sympathy for him. None.

[B Calm]

23. The Palin popularity is going down because she supports McCain

I love it!

[saltpoint]

24. When he defeated Dubya in the 2000 presidential primary in New Hampshire

McCain seemed to be a change of pace from the Reagan - Poppy era, although IMO most of that was owed to his personality rather than his politics.

It wasn't very long after the New Hampshire win that both McCain's personality and his politics were revealed to be shallow and lightly considered. The Bush handlers smeared McCain in South Carolina, and while McCain did go on to win several more primaries that year, his momentum was effectively slowed sufficiently to give Bush time to recover, and soon enough what seemed like a McCain ascent became neutralized campaign.

Katherine Harris, then Florida's Secretary of State, campaigned for Dubya in snowy New Hampshire, passing out Florida strawberries to NH voters. She was later to play an even greater role in the presidential election of 2000.

I don't cotton to GOP politics in the first place, including McCain's, but did appreciate his holding up reporters who had clustered in his hotel room one morning a couple of months before the New Hampshire primary vote. Cindy was evidently entertaining them while the whole room awaited McCain's entry. Pastries and coffee were on a big table to keep the press corps happy. When McCain finally emerged his first words were, "Where are the goddam donuts?" -- and he proceeded to the pastries and coffee. The press liked this shoot-from-the-hip sort of thing, and it made McCain attractive, especially in contrast to Dubya's inarticulate mumbo-jumbo. All the strawberries in the world could not make George W. Bush interesting.

But year 2000 was to be a Bush year and McCain must have been perceived as someone who would not play the game the Bush rules. Analysts considered McCain a "Maverick," which is healthy in politics most of the time but not congruent with the Bush rules. In the decade or so since then we get a lot of McCain the "maverick," but virtually none of McCain the collaborative problem-solver. It leads me to think that collaboration and problem-solving were never significant parts of his personality to begin with. He doesn't see what is actually taking place outside his window. He asserts his position without carefully analyzing the circumstances that prompt it. He's Farmer McGregor with his pitchfork and he wants the bunnies out of his garden.

I'm still not sure how a shallow and inarticulate old fool like McCain outlasted the more charming Huckabee and the much wealthier Romney for the GOP nomination in 2008, but he did. It certainly doesn't say much for Romney and Huckabee. Giuliani led in Puke polling the entire year preceding the primary season, but the more he showed up for public appearances, the more people realized what an insufferable pig he really was, and he wound up having to withdraw from contention in Iowa, and then withdraw from contention in New Hampshire, making Florida his last stand. There were photos of Rudy and Judy in one of those swampblaster boats on an Everglades photoshoot. It was pathetic. The polling leader in the entire year prior to the primaries offered no real competition for McCain, and with Huck and Willard not catching real fire, McCain slipped in and won the nomination.

He lost to Obama by over 10 million votes.

Since then he has been just as shallow and even more mean-spirited and petty. He's reconnected with his inner git-off-my-lawn hothead curmudgeon. He's not terribly smart, he is pre-Eisenhower in his social vision, he's inarticulate, and he embraces positions not held by a majority of voters in the country. The news talk shows feature him repeatedly because he's not substantive and ineffective, and that's the news ratings combo they're looking for.

He may lose his primary match against Hayworth, who is one of the most vile candidates out there in the primary arena. If there were any Charles Percy of John Chafee Republicans still left, they'd leave the country pronto.

[caty]

25. A good example of

"what goes around, comes around".

He cheated on and then abandoned his first wife after she stood by him all those years he was a POW. When he got home, he found that she had been in a car accident and was left with a limp. He then started cheating on her with his present wife,Cindy - and then left his wife and their children for Cindy.

Now, he is the one who is being left deserted by his own party. They are turning their backs on him. He's finding out what it feels like to believe he has something to offer, but no one wants him.

Karma. Ain't it a kicker?

[spanone]

26. i don't find it sad. i find it repulsive. sold his soul to sarah palin. pathetic.

[smoogatz]

27. He totally jumped the shark in '08.

Now it's just the inevitable clockwise spiral down the toilet bowl of political history. The lesson is probably something like "get out before they throw you out," or even more imperative, "get out before they laugh you out."

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

28. It must really suck to have to ask Milfymoose for help.

[UTUSN]

29. He's been pathetic for quite a while:

[SOS]

32. He's a 73 year old millionaire

Retire already

[undeterred]

33. Hanging around with Flaked Alaska makes him even more pathetic.