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Jake Tapper is ABC News' Senior National Correspondent based in the network's Washington bureau. He writes about politics and popular culture and covers a range of national stories.
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They Came to Bury McCain, Not to Praise Him
March 06, 2008 5:03 PM
We all make predictions that are proven wrong.
But now that Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., is the official Republican presidential nominee, it may be worth looking at those who prematurely danced upon his grave.
Our great Political Unit intern Talal Alkhatib helped me dig some of these up…
Enjoy.
McCain's Campaign Collapses, by Dick Morris and Eileen McGann, February 28, 2007
"The excitement Rudy's candidacy has generated has swelled his poll numbers at a time when McCain, who announced too early and campaigned for too long, was fading. As Rudy surged in January 2007, it was clear that McCain had peaked too soon...If Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic nomination, it will be Hillary vs. Rudy in the battle of the giants. And poor John McCain will go back to the Senate."
McCain is Finished, Head of Conservative Union Says, by Ronald Kessler, May 6, 2007
"Sen. John McCain's presidential candidacy has 'fatal problems,' says David A. Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, the country's oldest and largest conservative grassroots lobbying group.
"'I can be proven wrong, but McCain is dying a slow political death right now,' Keene tells me over lunch at BLT Steak in Washington. 'There are a number of reasons for that. On the right, he's simply not trusted, doesn't have credibility. He is not a small government conservative, and that's the basic underlying problem.'
"McCain's second problem, Keene says, is that he has 'never come to grips with the kind of candidate he was and the kind of candidate he has to be. He's almost schizophrenic about it.'"
McCain Death Watch, by Ryan Sager, June 25, 2007
"It's the prediction of this blog that John McCain will not make it so far as the first primary in the 2008 Republican primary, due to a number of factors:
"1) He leads in no national poll, and, in fact, has fallen to at least third place — with fourth place on the way.
"2) He is in dire straits when it comes to fundraising.
"3) There is simply no logic to his candidacy: He's neither a straight-shooting maverick (the logic of his 2000 run) nor the true conservative (the supposed logic of this run) nor the fall-back consensus candidate (the Dole '96 model — which is hardly operational in such a strong primary field).
"Thus, the John McCain death watch..."
The Beginning of the End for McCain, by Michael Fauntroy, Huffington Post, July 11, 2007
“I am about to go out on a thin limb on this one: John McCain's presidential campaign will not make it to Iowa. At some point between Halloween and Thanksgiving -- and after months of sinking poll numbers, fundraising that is heading in the wrong direction (the third quarter report is going to be a mess), and staff shakeups that smell of panic -- it will occur to the senior Senator from Arizona that Republican primary voters do not want him to be their nominee in 2008.”
John McCain: Dead Man Walking, Toby Harnden, The Telegraph, July 11, 2007
"There are plenty of political obituaries being written on the Arizona senator tonight after his two most senior aides resigned - and the conclusion that he is a dead man walking is difficult to avoid."
And in the subscription-only Cook Political Report, Charlie Cook wrote: "For all intents and purposes, McCain's campaign is over...The physicians have pulled up the sheet; the executors of the estate are taking over. Paying bills and winding down - not strategizing, organizing, and getting the message out - will be the order of the day."
It goes on and on, but you get the idea.
-- jpt
March 6, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (9)
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There were some of us who were predicting, about this time last year, that McCain would emerge on top of the heap. While I incorrectly picked his opponent (Edwards did himself in when he veered from his message of positivity), I called the "surge" in youth voting and the issues with an Obama or Clinton ticket.
Posted by: My Alter Ego | Mar 9, 2008 4:41:40 PM
"Anointed Loser"? Puhleez... it amazes me that the Republican party is seen as this small cabal of fat-cat industrialists and evangelical ministers who get together and decide things and then text the party faithful their marching orders. There is as much dissent as the Dems. But, you think any Republican wants to lose this cycle… with the possibility of Lady Macbeth in the White House? Or some greenhorn Senator who is even more liberal that HRC? Yeah… right!
As a center-right GOPer, I am very happy with our candidate and equally happy with our prospects in November. The self-implosion of democracy run-amok as HRC and BO has been more interesting than watching Bush v. Gore. Go Mac, Go!
Posted by: smartprimate | Mar 7, 2008 8:29:39 AM
McCain is the obvious "annointed loser" in this election cycle, with the GOP realising its the Dems turn looking at those primary turnouts. The conservatives in the party haven't gone anywhere. They will gleefully watch him lose, killing off the liberal end of the party so they may channel Goldwater come 2012. This is only too obvious by the rapid dropping out of the other candidates, the fast and strange endorsements and all the so-called dumb luck. McCain won't know what hit him when he gets it in the back from his own kind. This is the party that invented dirty politics and John is one naive soldier to think it leaves him immune.
Posted by: SE Croft | Mar 7, 2008 7:26:12 AM
McCain is McSame and HRC is a TRAITOR TO HER PARTY FOR SAYING THAT ONLY SHE AND McSame where actually "qualified" to run this country. I guess if you are part of their exclusive club. Yes, you have Mrs. McSame older version of Paris Hilton...pill popping, husband chaser done good. HRC husband was a skirt chaser who married a "strong" woman done good. Ah...yes the kind of EXPERIENCE WE NEED.
OBAMA 08
Posted by: LauraSue | Mar 7, 2008 3:36:24 AM
It's time that the far right wing wake up and smell the coffee... look at the Dems, look at the excitement. Whatever happened to that big tent that the GOP touted? Whatever happened to the intellectual dialogue that Wm F. Buckley resuscitated into the conservative cause?
Republicans need to unify and modernize or DIE! Not just for one election but forever. We are lucky that we have two fatally flawed though interesting Dem candidates. Had there been one Dem candidate left after Super Tuesday... our prospect would be very slim for November.
We need to start sounding like the party of real hope and real change and real strength! We need to stop looking like the red-neck, white sheet party whose only goal is to go back to a pre-Civil War Era.
It's the 21st Century for God's sake... snap out of it!
Posted by: smartprimate | Mar 6, 2008 10:36:56 PM
*Yawn* Yet another pro-McCain piece from Tapper. What's the score now, 12-1 since November? And the one questionable piece was about ... autism.
When do we get to hear about those B-B-Q Ribs and deep-tissue massages at the Enchantment Resort? Or the torture flip-flop? When do we get to hear how much those years in Iraq are going to cost us and how much we are going to borrow from the Chinese to pay for them? I like John McCain - but I get to. I'm not a National Correspondent for ABC. Do some balanced reporting.
Posted by: Mara | Mar 6, 2008 9:18:04 PM
Doesn't surprise me that Juan Mccain is the nominee. That is the man the RNC wanted. They dance to the tune of the US Chamber of Commerce. Surely the RNC won't support a "enforce the laws" man, they need the money coming in that big business supplies. With now all possible candidates are amnesty people, no doubt illegals will be coming in herds if they aren't right now for the upcoming McAmnesty.
Posted by: howard | Mar 6, 2008 9:11:55 PM
It's hard for a journalist to cast stones about false predictions. They've been wrong far more than they've been right. Remember the predictions that Hillary had the nomination locked up in December; then she was all but finished after Iowa; then she cried before NH, which they ridiculed until that helped her win big in NH after they predicted a large loss; after she won in NH it was going to be a long fight until Obama won 12 in a row and it was all over for Hillary; but after Texas and Ohio it's back to a horse race. The pundits are idiots. It's like predicting the outcome of the Super Bowl and then changing your prediction after every touchdown. Eventually you'll be right.
Posted by: LAGuy | Mar 6, 2008 6:29:12 PM
Hmmm, it sounds like there were a few missed calls by some very sly dogs, indeed.
Posted by: WestCoastMessenger | Mar 6, 2008 6:13:01 PM
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