Can McCain Beat Clinton?

[Jeff from NC]

Perhaps Hillary will unite the GOP.  But so did Bush, and he only barely won; most surveys show that the GOP has only lost voters to the Democrats.  I don't think that uniting the Republican party again will suffice.  I also remain in doubt that McCain can unite the Republican party.  He didn't do much better in SC than he did eight years ago (pulling around 30% both times) and he is loathed by Rush Limbaugh and his ilk.

To the poster above who said Ohio likes moderate or maverick Republicans - perhaps.  But Mike DeWine was pretty independent; a member of the Gang of 14, I think.  The GOP base didn't mind punishing him for that, and so he lost by a sizeable margin to a very liberal Democrat.

Finally, I think a lot of McCain's support is based on the impression that he isn't your typical Republican and thus whatever is wrong with the GOP, he surely must be different.  Unfortunately he remains a staunch supporter of the war, which turns off many independents; and he favors a moderate solution for immigration, which is enough to make many Republicans stay home.  I think a few well-constructed ads that inform voters of his specific positions will do a great deal of harm to his image.