According to Republican Chuck Hagel, yes. -- Hagel: McCain Facing Electoral Buzzsaw Over Iraq The Republican Party and its presumptive nominee Sen. John McCain are heading into a 2008 electoral buzzsaw with their continued support of the Iraq war, Sen. Chuck Hagel said in an interview with The Huffington Post on Thursday. The country is still very sour on the war, the Nebraska Republican pressed, and support for candidates who want to stay the course is simply not there. "I am concerned about the [party still holding on to Iraq as an issue]," said Hagel. "If for no other reason than the political factors here are quite obvious. This country has made a decision on Iraq and as you see now in any poll, even a minimum of 25 percent of the registered Republicans cannot support the president's policy in Iraq. You take that with the independents and Democrats and you have anywhere between 60 and 70 percent who want out. So you can't politically sustain this and any party that uses this as an issue when they are going in the face of where America is, is not going to do very well politically. That is just the facts of life." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/03/hagel-mccain-facing-elect_n_94934.html Apparently McCain also hasn't signed on to a bipartisan, re-worked version of the GI Bill endorsed by Hagel and Jim Webb.
looks like the latest Gallup and Rasmussen tracking reports have McCain beating Obama in the general OOPSIE
texxx - I hate to break this to you, but Gallup incorporates "cellphone voters", which as you have informed us, don't exist.
Samf, still feeling burned after you falsely predicted the cellphone voters would deliver the election to Forbes Kerry? Get over it. You got a better outcome instead
This will hammer him as well... The Gramm connection Aha: the Politico notices that Phil Gramm, McCain’s economic guru, can also be viewed as the father of the financial crisis. The general co-chairman of John McCain’s presidential campaign, former Sen. Phil Gramm (R-Texas), led the charge in 1999 to repeal a Depression-era banking regulation law that Democrat Barack Obama claimed on Thursday contributed significantly to today’s economic turmoil. …. According to federal lobbying disclosure records, Gramm lobbied Congress, the Federal Reserve and Treasury Department about banking and mortgage issues in 2005 and 2006. During those years, the mortgage industry pressed Congress to roll back strong state rules that sought to stem the rise of predatory tactics used by lenders and brokers to place homeowners in high-cost mortgages. Where have I seen that before? Ah: His chief economic adviser is former Senator Phil Gramm, a fervent advocate of financial deregulation. In fact, I’d argue that aside from Alan Greenspan, nobody did as much as Mr. Gramm to make this crisis possible. Seriously, the Gramm connection tells you all you need to know about where a McCain administration would stand on financial issues: squarely against any significant reform. http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/the-gramm-connection/ Not new, but some people still don't know about this! Trim Bush.
I have serious concerns about his age. I think in the general election, his being 71 will get hammered home to the voters. Especially, if Obama turns out the young voters - this could be a real factor in the election.
Agreed. McCain's age and (especially) the war could make him unelectable. I doubt it happens but you never know. His first litmus test for me is the choice of running mate. If he bows down to the right-wing and chooses a kook to reinforce his right flank, big mistake. But if he behaves like the independent-minded "Straight Talk Express" and chooses someone who is reasonable, he will be on the right track to get my vote. I believe McCain would be a one-term prez and his veep will have a leg up on the GOP nomination for 2012 if he wins. I never care about veep candidates but with McCain this time I do a lot.
It's not so much his age, but his health. He's had four rounds of surgery for cancer. That's got to be a concern.
Amazing how this whole "war" thing hasn't really come up much since we've been hearing nothing but nonsense about preachers and prostitutes. The closer we inch towards the general election, the more attention will have to be paid to the two elephants in the room named "war" and "economy".
We haven't heard about gays or abortion yet. Must be why Republicans didn't want McCain to get elected in the first place.
You mention Forbes Kerry, as though having the middle name of Forbes is a bad thing. Do you like to poke fun at middle names that much? My middle name is Matthew...fire away.
No, it will not. McCain has more credentials when he talks about wars than Bush ever had. He is dominant over Obama on any issues involving the military. If I were Obama's campaign manager, I would avoid debating war with McCain at all cost.
I disagree. McCain is in disagreement with most of the people in the nation regarding the war. If I was Obama I would be all over that. McCain still hasn't even given his approval of the new GI bill. It's been being pushed for weeks. He sold some of military pull when he signed on to allowing the govt. to torture. If I was Obama I would take McCain on regarding war every chance possible.
hahahahahaha! Obama weak on terror? Was it just TJ or you as well who were scared to strike in mean ol' Pakistan to go after Al Qaeda leadership when Obama suggested that was the correct that was the correct method to take. Of course when our forces followed exactly that plan of action endorsed by Obama we took out the #3 Al Qaeda man. That's hardly weak on terror, especially when others were too scared to support it.
George W Bush authorized the strikes in Pakistan. To suggest that Obama had anything to do with that is simply absurd.
