John McCain had no chance of winning. There were many reasons (poorly-managed campaign, picking Sarah Palin, schizophrenic reactions to various crises, inconsitency, having an opponent that's a very charismatic speaker, having an opponent that ran a very organized campaign, etc.) -- but probably the most damaging to McCain was Bush's tarnishing of the Republican brand. Polling shows that even most Republicans do not like Bush any more.
Then you had the Democrats gaining even more power in the House & Senate. The United States seems to be moving more to the left, and becoming more like the progressive/liberal places of Europe or Canada.
I personally do not see a Republican winning the White House for the next 16 years at least.
Some Republicans allege that they need to be "more conservative", and that McCain wasn't conservative enough. I think this would be a huge mistake, and only shows how out-of-touch many Republicans are. If anything, they should be pushing more towards the center, appeal to women & non-whites. Otherwise, the Republican Party may become marginalized and will be on par with the third parties.
Has the Republican brand been tarnished to the point that we will probably not see a Republican win the White House for a very long time?
Kristina: *You're
Jules: Watergate was minor compared to Bush. Watergate was merely Nixon wanting to illegally wire-tap some of his opponents. Yawn. Bush actually started a war unnecessarily that cost thousands of lives and billions of dollars, and hurt our standing & respect in the world. Bush authorized torture, which stands against everything America is about. Bush expanded government (Patriot Act, wiretapping, bailouts), which is against what Republicans are about. Bush allowed jobs to be shipped overseas during his administration. Bush doubled the deficit (which Clinton had reduced), and eliminated the budget-surplus that Clinton created and took us back in to debt. All of Clinton's hard work was squandered by Bush & Cheney (Cheney, BTW, has a lower approval rating than Bush -- that's pretty low). Bush was a disasterous president and even the majority of Republicans are finally admitting it. The only people that aren't admitting Bush's failures are the ignorant & stubborn that want to save face.
Then you had the Democrats gaining even more power in the House & Senate. The United States seems to be moving more to the left, and becoming more like the progressive/liberal places of Europe or Canada.
I personally do not see a Republican winning the White House for the next 16 years at least.
Some Republicans allege that they need to be "more conservative", and that McCain wasn't conservative enough. I think this would be a huge mistake, and only shows how out-of-touch many Republicans are. If anything, they should be pushing more towards the center, appeal to women & non-whites. Otherwise, the Republican Party may become marginalized and will be on par with the third parties.
Has the Republican brand been tarnished to the point that we will probably not see a Republican win the White House for a very long time?
Kristina: *You're
Jules: Watergate was minor compared to Bush. Watergate was merely Nixon wanting to illegally wire-tap some of his opponents. Yawn. Bush actually started a war unnecessarily that cost thousands of lives and billions of dollars, and hurt our standing & respect in the world. Bush authorized torture, which stands against everything America is about. Bush expanded government (Patriot Act, wiretapping, bailouts), which is against what Republicans are about. Bush allowed jobs to be shipped overseas during his administration. Bush doubled the deficit (which Clinton had reduced), and eliminated the budget-surplus that Clinton created and took us back in to debt. All of Clinton's hard work was squandered by Bush & Cheney (Cheney, BTW, has a lower approval rating than Bush -- that's pretty low). Bush was a disasterous president and even the majority of Republicans are finally admitting it. The only people that aren't admitting Bush's failures are the ignorant & stubborn that want to save face.