How McSame won and lessons for this fall.

The front page has been flooded with "Why Hillary Lost" diaries, which elicited this diary in response: Why Obama won!

The diarist in that diary makes an interesting point that an autopsy on the Clinton campaign does not really assist us in our next objective: winning the White House.  He/She therefore looked at how Obama won.  I propose that we should also be interested in how McCain won, as we might learn something from it.

So this diary looks at the McSame campaign, some reasons proposed by others for why he won the Republican nomination, some of my own, and some lessons that might help us defeat him this fall.

Top Three Reasons McSame won the Republican nomination.

No. 3: McSame played a stealth game.

Many commentators have noted the fact that this time one year ago, McSame was in a downward spiral.  This spiral continued until it seemed the campaign had totally imploded.   One commenter called him a dead man walking.  And yet, like a Phoenix, McSame emerged from the ashes holding the Republican nomination.  

So the media was writing him off and his competitors were soaring high, paying him little mind.  That was their big mistake.  McCain was thereafter unencumbered by the media spotlight and rode a dark horse for much of the fall.

No. 2: McSame made a deal with Bush.

Many here have speculated about the deal McSame made with Bush, while others in the traditional media including Chris Matthews have asked how McSame could make a deal with the "man" (from now on, everything about Bush goes into quotes) who attacked his daughter in South Carolina in 2000.

And yet McSame would not be where he is today without the famous hug.

Not to mention the big fat cake McSame shared with Bush while NOLA drowned.

The questions we of course should be asking are what were the details of their agreement.  The traditional media has not explored this at all, and as far as I'm aware, neither has anyone here.  But it would make an interesting subject for an investigation, no?  And just think if we could prove, even circumstantially, what Bush promised McCain and how Bush is helping him.

No. 1: McSame is the candidate of the Military Industrial Complex ("MIC").

At the same time McSame was floundering, Hillary was riding high.  However through the fall it soon became clear to anyone paying attention that her nomination was not assured.  The MIC then knew it would have to do more to ensure that the gravy train that is Iraq and the "Global War on Terror" would keep chuggin' along.  There is no way they could stand by and watch while the $8 billion per month spigot was turned off.

McSame is inseparable from the MIC.  He is the living embodiment of it, and there was no other candidate who could promise the MIC everything its little gold heart desired -- remember "100 years."  While Romney had some experience with the MIC given the presence of some key military contractors in Massachusetts, and started trying to court the MIC, he was a Mormon, and was a poor bet for the general election.  Huckabee could not be controlled.  

McSame was therefore the goto MIC man.  And they went.  Hard.

***

Lessons.    

1. Don't count McSame out.  Ever.

There has been tremendous optimism about Senator Obama.  This should not cloud the fact that the campaign against McSame is an uphill battle against tremendous odds.  How do you think Bush "won" in 2004.  He cheated.  And that same machinery is working for McSame.  Further, McSame is the MIC candidate, and there is too much money involved for them to let him lose.

Our mantra should be that even when it appears we are winning, we must fight harder.  

2. Tie Bush to McSame over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over,  etc....

You get the point.  The pictures above are priceless, and MoveOn and everyone here have already done a top notch job of beginning to get this message out.  We should not give up this endeavor until there is one of the two pictures pasted above, or preferably BOTH, affixed by magnet to the refrigerator in every single kitchen in America.

In short: McCain = Bush

3.  Timing is everything.  Watch for the waves.

Remember the Swiftboat attacks on Kerry?  I know you do.  What is coming is Nixon's Southern strategy times 100000000.  And it will not be the same.  Obama has shown he can respond quickly, but we do not want to be fighting a battle against the last enemy.  This will need more than just a standard war room campaign response, and I do not have the answer yet.  At minimum, we will need to be vigilant for every perturbation so that no Swiftboat v. 2 story about our man ever begins to take hold in the public's mind.  

A tall order?  Yes.  But we can do it with some preparation.  And I know the Obama camp is looking at this chess match.  Fortunately, they have at least the next few weeks to prepare.