McCain 2008 vs Romney 2012

[Progressive Realist]

Discuss.

[Stranger in a strange land]

As of July 16, McCain. He was actually running a very good campaign up until mid-September, when his awful, embarrassing response to the Lehman Brothers collapse, the concurrent Palin-Couric interview meltdown, and his lackluster performance in the first two debates erased the narrow lead he had built up over the summer.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

You shouldn't have put Obama's name up there. It ruins what you're trying to do with the poll.

Obama's was the best of the three, but I think the answer you're looking for is McCain 2008.

[argentarius]

Romney 2012 easily. Obama of today over McCain easily too.

[Diabolical Minds Think Alike]

Romney 2012 > McCain 2008

[Lief]

Romney's campaign has been a disaster since January at least.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Yeah, I'm not getting how this is even close.

Mitt Romney should have had the GOP nomination locked up by Florida. He didn't. His campaign was a giant CF--it still is. They have no idea how to counter Obama and are unable to define Romney and his vision in the minds of voters. That's a huge failure.

McCain, on the other hand, ran a hugely successful come-from-behind campaign and was really competitive over the summer. And there's no way any GOP candidate should have been polling that close to Obama... 2008 was always going to be the Democrats' election. The Sarah Palin move is seen as a big negative, but I don't think it sinks the whole campaign. There was a strong chance the pick could have actually worked out. With a smarter woman, it could have. I think McCain's campaign was extremely impressive.

[True Federalist]

Until McCain botched the collapse by acting like a chicken with his head cut off, he had a reasonable shot of winning.  In just two weeks, my prediction went from a 286-252 Obama victory (and my predictions had been trending towards McCain for several weeks) to a 364-174 Obama victory because of that.

To a large extent, Palin was the scapegoat for McCain's collapse.  Not that her perception didn't hurt the campaign, but McCain did far more damage to the campaign than Palin did.

[Sasquatch]

McCain 2008.

It was around this time 4 years ago that McCain used that 'Obama is a celebrity' line which was the start of a slight McCain surge until the banks went belly up. At this point, Romney hasn't had any momentum and Obama is running circles around him.

[asexual trans victimologist]

McCain 2008.

Obama by all rights should, even though I like him, have approved of a lot of what he's done, and will be voting for him fairly happily, be an unusually weak incumbent at this point in the cycle. Instead, he's currently set for a significantly easier ride than Bush 2004, if not nearly as easy as other recent reelections. Yes, he's running a good and intelligent and unusually empirical campaign, but that shouldn't be worth as much as it is if Romney's campaign weren't so awful.

[pbrower2a]

Until the formal collapse of some financial giants and of course the selection of Sarah Palin as a VP nominee, John McCain was doing quite well -- considering that he was running for the nomination for the Presidency in the same Party that had an unpopular incumbent. I see signs of a Romney collapse -- secretiveness, combativeness, and defensiveness.  I see no easy recovery for him. 

[HagridOfTheDeep]

That last part of your post is partisan BS, pbrower. Romney will recover for the simple fact that this is JULY.

In fact, my only consolation has been that Obama might very well be blowing his load early. In an attempt to define Romney right away, Obama could run out of new material by October. The Bain attacks have generally been met with disdain, so there's the possibility Obama is right now shooting himself in the foot.

[WhyteRain]

Until McCain botched the collapse by acting like a chicken with his head cut off, he had a reasonable shot of winning.  In just two weeks, my prediction went from a 286-252 Obama victory (and my predictions had been trending towards McCain for several weeks) to a 364-174 Obama victory because of that.

To a large extent, Palin was the scapegoat for McCain's collapse.  Not that her perception didn't hurt the campaign, but McCain did far more damage to the campaign than Palin did.

Yep, I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed it.  Without Palin ... well, remember how pathetically McCain ended the campaign -- having to go to her events just to see what a big crowd looked like?  Yeah, without her on the ticket instead of losing by 7 points, he'd've lost by closer to 17.

Of course, Palin showed she's not too bright when she went down to Arizona in 2010 and single-handedly saved his ass in the GOP primary -- only to see McCain then go on the Senate floor and call her fans "hobbits".  One of the main faults I see in Palin is this kind of misplaced loyalty.

[pbrower2a]

That last part of your post is partisan BS, pbrower. Romney will recover for the simple fact that this is JULY.

In fact, my only consolation has been that Obama might very well be blowing his load early. In an attempt to define Romney right away, Obama could run out of new material by October. The Bain attacks have generally been met with disdain, so there's the possibility Obama is right now shooting himself in the foot.

Voters tend to dislike secretive, combative politicians who seem to have something to hide or are doing badly at their jobs (if incumbents). Such might indicate the potential for scandal. So it was with Jon Corzine, who was no Republican.   

Partisan Republicans may hold the Bain Capital attacks with contempt just as Democrats in 1988 held the Willie Horton ads against Mike Dukakis in 1988 in extreme contempt. Mike Dukakis went on the defensive... and lost. 

Mitt Romney has been running on his business acumen as proof that he would better handle the federal budget. Such depends upon two assumptions -- first, that he can cut spending, and second, that the methods to be used are equitable as well as effective.

The reports on Bain Capital suggest that Mitt Romney has waxed rich on the gutting of asset-rich companies and mass firings. Such 'creative destruction' is far from popular.   

[JulioMadrid]

We don't know who'll be Romney's VP yet. If (s)he is not a dumb, like Sarah Palin, Romney. If it's (unlikely) someone like her, McCain.

Anyway, the 3rd option is the right one. Obama's campaign was better in 2008 and has been better, for the moment, in 2012.

[ZuWo]

Romney's campaign has been weak and disappointing so far. He has got himself into a huge mess with the Bain Capital Story and the confusion about the precise year of his departure from the company, which fits into the narrative that Romney is someone who flip-flops and bends the truth for political convenience, and his irrational refusal to disclose his earlier tax returns, which only leads most people to think that he has something serious to hide. And these issues will not go away; Romney has decided to build up his campaign on his business experience so Bain Capital and his wealth will always remain a central aspect of his campaign. It also seems strange that Romney does not seem to be too eager to tout any of his accomplishments as Governor of MA; you would think that a major candidate running for President who served as Governor should try to stress his political credentials - unless these accomplishments are meager at best.

At this point, clearly, both Obama's and McCain's campaign must be considered much more effective than Romney's. And that should be a worrying sign for Romney since McCain ran in a political climate which was not very Republican-friendly to say the least.

[Reaganfan]

By far the President's campaign of 2012 is much weaker than in 2008 and has a much darker, nasty tone. The one positive for Romney is that he is out-raising the President's campaign big-time.

[© Tweed the Younger]

Romney's campaign has been a disaster since January at least.

comments like this are just patently untrue.