When people look back ...

... on this election, they'll probably ask what McCain did that caused him to tank with voters. To get all Russert-like -

 

• Some might say he really wasn't going to ever win - I've always suspected that he wasn't the right-wing's first choice.
  
• Some might say that it all went downhill when he picked Palin - for the longest time, I subscribed to this point.

But I suspect much of the analysis will look back at the economic problems that hit at the same time, and how McCain dealt with them.

 

This comment from Steve Benen sums this up nicely -

 

"The conventional wisdom has been that McCain dropped in the polls after the crisis began in earnest because voters' attention shifted to the economy, which is McCain's weakest point. That's largely true, but it's incomplete. McCain dropped because his response to the crisis has been ridiculous. This was an opportunity for McCain to not only show some leadership and a "steady hand," but also that he knows what he's talking about when it comes to the economy. He's failed miserably."

 

That being said, I do think there's a larger issue going on.

 

Part of it lies with the idea that the American public is finally seeing the American Right Wing (as housed in the current incarnation of the Republican Party) ideology for what it really is. All those years of scandals, fake issues are insignificant now. What I'm hoping is that this will be the start of the public finally realizing that the American Right should be kept far away from government. They are very good at getting into power, but running government is something that should be left to those who know how to govern for all, not use government as a vehicle to reward a select few.