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"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource."
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The Final Days: A Commentary by Susan Estrich
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Race
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| Contributor | Brandonius Maximus |
| Last Edited | Brandonius Maximus Oct 22, 2008 09:26am |
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| Category | Commentary |
| News Date | Wednesday, October 22, 2008 03:00:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Losing a presidential race is not an easy thing. Losing the primary is one thing. But making it to the finals, so close you can almost taste it, and then watching it slip through your fingers is one of those experiences from which few people ever fully recover.
If it's a race for re-election, a first term that doesn't become a second, at least you can go off, build the library and console yourself that you're still a member of the club. If you're young enough, you can convince yourself that there is always next time, four years down the road, that the next campaign is only days away. Even if you never run again (see Al Gore, John Kerry), you can get a long way thinking you might.
There will be no such solace for John McCain if he loses. He tried twice. He made it to the finals. He is, frankly, too old to try again. It will be someone else's turn next time.
And it's not clear, even if the talking heads don't want to admit it, that there is anything he can do now to change an outcome that is feeling more certain with each passing day. You can "what if" the race to death: what if he hadn't picked Sarah Palin; what if the economy hadn't collapsed; what if Hillary Clinton had won instead of Barack Obama? But what (SET ITAL) is (END ITAL) matters, not what if. He did pick Palin; the economy did collapse; and for my money, I think Hillary would have beaten him handily.
At this point, almost everything that matters is beyond McCain's control. He can't control the fact that the Dow has collapsed, that Joe the Plumber has a lien on his house, that Palin doesn't read newspapers, or that Obama doesn't make mistakes. He can't even begin to match Obama in terms of organization or money.
He is on the verge of the final days of a campaign that he will relive and second-guess for the rest of his life.
McCain may not be able to do anything to change the numbers on Nov. 4 or the colors on the map. But there is one thing he can do. He can decide how he will go o |
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