Word: mccain
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...Without a doubt the two main factors are the financial crisis and the presidential debates. When Lehman Brothers collapsed on Sept. 14, McCain still led the national polls by about two points. For McCain, the subsequent fallout proved to be a triple whammy, reminding voters about the benefits of government regulation (a traditionally Democratic argument), highlighting the failure of leadership of the current White House and accelerating the nation's collective sense that it has been heading in the wrong direction...
...debates, for their part, largely acquitted Obama of the biggest question mark against him: Does he demonstrate presidential mettle? McCain's performance varied, with high points and low points, but no matter what he did on the debate stage, he never forced Obama to lose his bearings. After each contest, polls showed that independent voters clearly decided that Obama came off as neither scary nor an amateur. In most polls, swing voters said Obama won all three debates, by margins as large...
...There was, of course, nothing McCain could do to prevent the financial crisis, or even much, most observers say, he could do to blunt Obama's strong debate performance. But that doesn't mean the Republican nominee didn't exacerbate those and other situations this fall. Four decisions the campaign made over the past two months in particular have heavily contributed to its current woes...
...McCain Drove into a House Republican Wall. At the height of the financial crisis, John McCain took a big, and many would say ill-advised, risk, announcing he was suspending his campaign and even threatening to skip the first debate to get "in the arena," as his hero Teddy Roosevelt put it. He returned to Washington and attempted to demonstrate a type of leadership on the financial crisis that would distinguish him from Obama's more hands-off approach. The effort to help craft a bipartisan bailout plan had muddled results, mainly because McCain's influence among House Republicans...
...Sarah Palin Needed a Crash Course She Never Got. The selection of Palin as McCain's running mate was initially a coup. It shocked the nation, rocketed McCain in the polls, especially among white women, and solidified support among the GOP base. McCain rallies suddenly rivaled Obama's rallies in enthusiasm and size. But while media scrutiny of Palin's record started to damage her maverick credibility (can you say Bridge to Nowhere?), her bubble truly got deflated by Katie Couric. Palin's two weeks of interview broadcasts on CBS Evening News coincided with a collapse in her approval ratings...