Well, we get what we pay for. We have officially paid for George W. Bush. McCain is no conservative but he is a heck of a lot better than Obama or Clinton. It is surprising that polls show Obama only slightly behind McCain among Republicans. That clearly shows how disillusioned our party is. Obama is a socialist, but he is a nice socialist. He has the charisma and the ability to articulate and sell the extreme socialist, liberal agenda like no one else. I must admit he is impressive. In reality, we as a country might need an Obama figure to show us the “Clinton” years again. It will then swing back our way, but probably not for another 8 years. That is my assessment and it is obviously open to criticism.

McCain will have to answer too many questions about his record. He will be fighting his way out of a hole the entire election as he tries to cover up / repair his record to make him palatable for the right wing (which he needs a good percentage of to even have a chance). On the flip side, he will go into the election with a lot more cash on hand. The current battle between Clinton and Obama will suck them dry. I have not looked into this but I bet many have maxed out to either candidate and will be unable to help the Democratic winner in their final push. Obama’s fundraising ability scares me more because a lot of his base is young and idealistic and will chuck money at him to beat McCain (McCain wears the scarlet letter R next to his name; R = W). Obama’s average donation is pretty low which leaves more room to nickel and dime his way to a hefty campaign coffer.

Here is a list of things that McCain will have to explain / punt on.

1.) Bush’s Tax Cuts: He voted against them in 2001 and for them in 2006
2.) Immigration: He supports amnesty
3.) Iraq: Supports the war and has made fairly bold statements about the length of time he is willing to remain there
4.) Campaign Finance: McCain-Feingold – I will say no more

On top of these pretty big issues, he will need to defeat Obama’s (assuming the Democrats do not bite the hand that feeds them; a.k.a the African American vote) anti-war, pro-socialized medicine, populist message of hope.

I think this may be too much for the 71 year old man.