McCain cannot win the R nomination because he is a republican in name only; it's really that simple.

The base wants someone who can at a minimum partially fill the Gipper's shoes; that's a big challenge and no one in either party look up for that comparison/challenge. It's really too bad!

McCain is dust. The "Kiss of Death" for McCain was when Lurch Kerry tapped McCain as his VP...

It's been downhill for him as the GOP Standard Bearer ever since.

BTW, FRED THOMPSON will be the next President of the USA.

I remember Rick Davis when he used to play golf naked from the waist down in the 80's.

Immigration may have been the final straw, but McCain-Feingold is where most thinking conservatives tossed him over the side.

"Congress shall make no law..."

What part of that confuses you, Senator? Did you sustain brain damage in Viet Nam? My First Amendment Rights are not negotiable at any price.

Two reasons I won't vote for McCain:
1. McCain/Feingold (What part of "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech..) do you not understand?
2. McCain/Kennedy (Amnesty is not a solution to an invasion from a third world country)

For God's sake, if one more person calls it the "amnesty" bill I think I'll have to resign from the human race on account of the amount of sheer stupidity that exists in the world.

The bill provided $4 BILLION for border security, and the security triggers had to be met BEFORE any of the other provisions went into effect. The immigrants in question would THEN have had to pay a $4,000 fine if they wanted to begin the process of becoming a citizen. After paying the fine, they would have had to RETURN TO THEIR HOME COUNTRY and file their application from there, in line behind everyone else who was acting within the bounds of the law. There would be additional fees and fines to pay, for a total of $7,000 and more than a decade of time in between beginning the path to citizenship and actually becoming a citizen.

That is not amnesty, by ANY definition. And it would be a heck of a lot better than the situation we have now, which is NO new $4 billion for border security, no actual attempt to deal with the problem, and no way of doing anything meaningful to prevent future illegal immigration.

As for working with Kennedy, OF COURSE HE WORKED WITH KENNEDY. Did everyone forget that the Republicans lost control of Congress after the 2006 election? If he's going to get something done, he HAS to work with the Democrats, and Kennedy is pretty much the most senior Democratic senator. When did bipartisanship become a flaw instead of a virtue?

Also, as for McCain-Feingold, do you really think that money is equivalent to speech? Because that's the only way McCain-Feingold violates the First Amendment.

The fact of the matter is, the Founding Fathers could never have anticipated politics as it is practiced today. There needs to be some way to balance the right to freedom of speech and to spend one's money however one wants with the need to ensure that elections are not simply bought by whoever has the most money.

It's not an easy question to answer, but I'm not prepared to abandon the only man in the race with principles because he may have erred too far on the side of preventing corruption in elections.

Where's the FENCE McCain ?? The dark of night Amnesty/Immigration deal was his downfall. When people get to the Senate they seem to get out of touch with reality and become so arrogant they self destruct. Alaska's two Senators are the same, going downhill.

Too late McCain. Retire.

Dan, the brilliant Founding Fathers most definitely did anticipate politics of today. Exactly the reason Presidents and Senators were not to be selected by popular vote {or mob rule}. If you recall, Senators were selected by the States to act in the State best interest. It wasn't a popularity contest. Same with President. Some where along the line politicians decided it would be easier to get elected and remain elected by playing to the whims of popular vote rather than the best interest of the State which they represent. You want to eliminate money from the selection process? Get back to the intent of the Founding Fathers. They knew exactly what they were doing. There is nothing new under the sun.

JWP

McCain is imploding because he's been trying to win both the Republican and Democrat Primaries at the same time. Mr. middle-of-the-road Maverick McCain has no principles.

McCain's campaign ended with the immigration debacle. He took the wrong side of the debate. He doesn't hold to conservative principles and would never have won the nomination.

I agree with George that McCain is done.... but not because he's with Bush... it's because he has been trying to play both sides of the political fence... you can't do that... when you try to play it down the middle of the road... all that ends up happening is you get run over... i.e. MODERATE...

And yet, he's still the most qualified (far more than qualified) candidate for 2008, on any subject of merit, national defense in particular. That the weather vane lefty press has abandoned him during a time of war is nothing new.

McCain may be principled and i commend him for his service and his wartime torture he had to endure, but he sided with the wrong group, he refused to change his tune from a failed policy and he doesn't have enough compromise on major issues to be popular with the national vote. People have no reason to vote for him anymore.
period.