| Mr Khan said: Not necessarily that he had to move to the right per se, but that he had to act that way. He seemed uncomfortable with what he had to, and who he had to be. Election McCain didn't jive with pre-election McCain, and a lot of people (those who were aware of pre-election McCain, anyway) seemed to notice the difference. |
McCain was very quick to be sharp and cranky against his own but wasn't comfortable going full bore against a Dem. He really prided himself on that work-across-the-aisle, maverick bullshit. Obama is a seriously dirty and vicious campaigner, whereas McCain is just kind of an honorable old fool who took Jeremiah Wright completely off the table and seemed genuinely disappointed when Obama decided to forego public financing. I'm sure the fact that he was surprised and hurt that the New York Times and Andrew Sullivans of the world had sucked his dick all these years just to dump him for the new hotness only added to his befuddledness.
It's uniquely difficult for a big government conservative to run against a big government liberal. "I think we should do everything this guy wants to do, only less so" just isn't much of a message. Add in the fact that Obama was a pop culture phenomenon on par with the Macarena, and McCain had no chance whether or not he ran such a shitty campaign or picked Sarah Palin for his running mate or whatever.
