From the The New Yorker, 17 November 2008 post by, George Parker:

…Barack Obama’s decisive defeat of John McCain is the most important victory of a Democratic candidate since 1932. It brings to a close another conservative era, one that rose amid the ashes of the New Deal coalition in the late sixties, consolidated its power with the election of Ronald Reagan, in 1980, and immolated itself during the Presidency of George W. Bush…

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Esquire‘s Chris Jones offers his assessment of what causes historians will attribute to the collapse of the McCain campaign in 2008.   Of course there are numerous causes for the McCain/Palin loss to Obama/Biden, but Jones tracks a personality transition following the Republican’s surprising primary victory in New Hampsire.

For Jones, who had extrordinary access to the campaign throughout the primaries and general election, the final straw was McCain’s selection of the governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, as his running mate.

From Esquire.com, posted by Chris Jones, 5 November 2008:

(emphasis added)…Then he picked Sarah Palin as his running mate. I’d like to think someone else picked her for him, but how’s that the better option? She represented everything wrong with the Republican Party — the same intolerant elements that McCain had fought so hard against years earlier — and now there she was, smiling on the stage beside him. Historians will no doubt cite the collapsing economy and the legacy of George W. Bush as impossible obstacles for McCain to overcome. But for me, he lost the election when he picked Palin, because he lost the last vestige of his former self…

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The third and final debate between Barack Obama and John McCain was certainly the most entertaining of the three. However, the most memorable aspects of the debate had little to do with perceived rhetorical punches thrown or landed by either candidate. Rather, it was the demeanor of John McCain that – much to his detriment – stole the show.

McCain’s exasperation with Obama wasn’t worn on his sleeve, but on his face:
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The obviousness of the Arizona senator’s irritation was also betrayed by his audible sighs, bringing back memories of Al Gore’s lack of breath control in 2000 while debating George W. Bush. As Gore lost that debate, McCain certainly lost last night.

While the third presidential debate may have been an improvement for John McCain, his enhanced performance had more to do with him being seated behind a desk rather than the content of his arguments. Being seated prevented McCain from awkwardly wandering around the stage as he did during his second face off with Barack Obama.

Who looks more presidential?

I urge you, don’t take my word for it that Obama won. The “read more” link below leads to the October 16, 2008 Americablog.com post, aptly titled by John Aravosis: McToast. The post consists of blurbs from the Detroit Free Press, Des Moines Register, Duluth News Tribune, Columbus Dispatch, Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia Daily News, NY Post, Boston Globe, LA Times, NY Daily News, TIME, Washington Post, Newsweek, The Hill, Politico, & NY Times. All declared Barack Obama the victor.

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Raw Story has provided a succinct set of highlights from last nights debate along with a couple of CNN video clips.

From the October 7, 2008 Raw Story post:

Senators McCain (R-AZ) and Obama (D-IL) sparred on issues such as government spending, war, the environment and health care Tuesday evening at the second presidential debate at Nashville’s Belmont University, moderated by Tom Brokaw…

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The Obama campaign’s 13 minute documentary regarding the Keating 5 scandal and John McCain’s involvement.  Download a better quality video at Keatingecomics.com.

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From Pollster.com

Saturday’s Gallup tracking poll revealed two big numbers for Obama. Obama hit 50% in the tracking poll and took an 8% lead over McCain…

Using Gallup’s compendium of presidential trial heat polling since 1936, I counted16 candidates who received 50% support or higher in an October Gallup poll. Hitting the 50% mark was a very good predictor of victory. Of those 16 candidates, just two failed to win the general election–Al Gore and Thomas Dewey…

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Like many political addicts/observers, I was shocked when John McCain hastily selected Sarah Palin as his running mate.  I totally lost sleep the night the Alaskan Governor gave her acceptance address at this year’s RNC in Minneapolis.  Between her naming and acceptance it was already clear that Palin’s resume was -putting it kindly – thin.  The speech was pure political theater, packed with crap designed to rally the base, and it was delivered in a – again, kindly – sarcastic tone. (continued below Daily Show clip)

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I’m sleeping better now that the Palin/convention bump in the polls has faded, and while the McCain team has effectively sheltered her from MSM scrutiny, the top of the ticket is keeping the campaign compettitive, they are only doing so by spouting half-truths and outrigt lies.  It is not a sustainable strategy.

Now my sleep will improve further thanks, mostly, to the below article (excerpt below).  Paul Gough describes Burns, whose comments were solicited at panel discussion associated with this week’s Emmy Awards, as appearing firm in his assessment.  I don’t always buy in to historian commentary when present or future events are at issue, but in this case, I believe Burns is spot on.  Historians - or any astute observers willing to focus beyond the MSM lens – are perfectly qualified to recognize that Sarah Palin is not the caricature presented and protected by the GOP.

From the hollywoodreporter.com September 22, 2008 post by, Paul J. Gough:

“He (McCain) selected someone who is so supremely unqualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency and he has turned the selection process into a high school popularity contest and an ‘American Idol’ competition,” Burns said. He said that McCain made a “cynical” pick in what he said was the most important decision of his presidential candidacy.

Burns, whose lifelong work is in American history, said that “in the whole history of the Republic there has been no one with as thin a credential” as Palin. He said it was, for McCain, a “Hail Mary pass” that will be decided in November…

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Related Video:  If you have 12 minutes to spare, view the below clip.  In it, Lawrence Lesig compares Palin’s experience to every American Vice President.

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Author of Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Colbert discuss past political conventions while touching upon this week’s Republican National Convention.

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