The Unstoppable McCain

Or, at least he was until last month.

Ok, so obviously I'm behind on my readings. Hmmm.

With the democratic party struggling to find unity and stealing so much of the negative limelight these days - McCain seemed poised to gain a hefty lead over the competition. The DNC has had a lot to deal with: Obama’s recent media plight over his long relationship with a racist Pastor, Clinton’s bumbling misstatement over having to duck under sniper fire in Bosnia, and now with Clinton fending off pressure from Obama’s campaign reps and superdelegates in the DNC to drop out of the race – McCain’s pretty much been living the good life I'd say. Free from media strife, free to run his own campaign, free to relish in the uptick of support.

And then ‘thwack’. Bush’s endorsement.

Now, don't get me wrong - Bush is still pretty popular with the GOP and it comes as no real surprise that Bush has endorsed McCain. In fact, within the upper echelons of the party, I’m sure a lot of conservative peeps were “thrilled” about it – feel it unifies the Republican Party behind McCain. But, McCain also doesn’t have any competition for the Republican primary so an endorsement from the current Republican president isn’t going to give him any boost there; he’s already clinched the nomination. Can Bush help in states like Texas - I doubt it. If McCain can't win over these states without a Bush endorsement - he won't win them over with a Bush endorsement.

However – the general elections are only 1,2,3,...8 months away (and it'll go by quickly) and it goes without saying that Bush is NOT popular with the left. In fact, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Bush is vehemently despised by folks on the left. And, generally speaking – not too well liked among independents or the far right either. His approval ratings recently seemed to fluctuate somewhere between 19% and 27%.

So, how much will a Bush endorsement help or hurt McCain’s chances in the general elections? Was this an attempt to unify the GOP behind McCain - and therefore well-timed with DNC candidates being front and center in the media, and just in time for the endorsement hype to die-down before the start of general election campaigning... Does a Bush endorsement strengthen the message that a McCain presidency would be a Bush “three-peat?” Is McCain just setting himself up for heavy fire by everyone else 'to the left'...

Oh, and how stupid was this statement by McCain (outside the White House after Bush’s endorsement):

“I hope that the president will find time from his busy schedule to be out on
the campaign trail with me, and I will be very privileged to have the
opportunity of being again on the campaign trail with him,”

Goodness me-oh-my...