Back Talk Requested:Well Done, Mac!

Posted By Cliff Tuttle | November 9, 2008

Posted by Cliff Tuttle

This blog is not about politics, but I cannot refrain from posting the following observations about Tuesday’s election.

John McCain has been drawing post-mortem flak from the cable news talking heads over campaign decisions and to this I must vigorously dissent.

To begin with, no Republican but McCain could have run a halfway creditable race against the Democrats in 2008. Despite hundreds, perhaps thousands of negatives, McCain managed, over and over, to bring a left-for-dead campaign back to life. He risked everything by actively supporting the surge in Iraq at a time when it was widely regarded by the electorate as a fool’s errand. When the public blamed the Bush administration for soaring gasoline prices, he recognized a turnaround issue in offshore drilling, seizing it as a rallying point that helped drive his floundering campaign back into contention.

Then, he stole the post convention bounce from his opponent by choosing a highly unconventional running mate. The emergence of the McCain-Palin ticket dominated the headlines, raised a lot of cash and even stole the momentum from the opposition for a while. Coming into October, the contest was more or less even in the battleground states.

Then the bottom fell out. A Republican ticket headed by George Washington could not have survived in the most turbulent month that the world securities markets have ever seen. Yet, in the midst of it all, McCain rallied during the last debate and re-charged his campaign with the Joe the Plumber phenomenon and harping on Obama’s expressed intention to “spread the wealth.” Once again he had found a fresh line of attack and was making headway when he ran out of time.

This is not to say that he would have won if the election had been later. Quite the contrary. The collapsing economy would probably have buried him deeper. But that does not detract from a noble effort. In the movies, Indiana Jones and Rocky Balboa always triumph against incredible odds. Its not like that too often in real life.

As it happened, he was up against a candidate and political organization that was nothing short of the high end of excellent. No shame in losing to competition like that!

So, in the end, no excuses or apologies are required.

CLT

Welcome

CLIFF TUTTLE has been a Pennsylvania lawyer for over 45 years and (inter alia) is a real estate litigator and legal writer. The posts in this blog are intended to provide general information about legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus. However, this information does not constitute legal advice and there is no lawyer-client relationship created when you read this blog. You are encouraged to leave comments but be aware that posted comments can be read by others. If you wish to contact me in privacy, please use the Contact Form located immediately below this message. I will reply promptly and in strict confidence.

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