maybe

John McCain would have been president if he had won the nomination in 2000. And the Republican fortunes may have fared much better in 2008 if that had been the case. I probably wouldn't have blinked at voting for him back then, either. He actually lived up to the maverick nickname, rejecting the divisive tactics of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, and actually standing out as someone who really DID reach across the aisle to get stuff done. While he wasn't the prettiest girl at the party-faithful ball, he had the broadest base of support across the general electorate and would have beaten Gore handily.

Something changed over the last eight years that I can't quite put my finger on, and while I still think McCain is a good man, the moment he won the nomination he shifted into a pandering, vitriolic nominee who didn't have a chance in hell. He attempted to frame the race as a referendum on Obama -- a 'don't vote for me, vote AGAINST him' kind of tack. A quick look to history shows that strategy is a colossal failure, and one generally employed by Democrats -- Kerry 04, Dukakis 88, Mondale 84...the list goes on. McCain seems to reach across the aisle in more ways than one.

But for those who bemoan the election of Obama as part of the end of days... I turn to a wonderful point that Robert Wuhl made in Assume The Position: We'll get through it. And we'll be just fine. Calvin Coolidge lost the White House china in a poker game. We got through his presidency. Jimmy Carter presided over a period of tremendous inflation, and we got through it. We just stumbled through a financial crisis of storied proportion, but it looks like we're coming out the other side. We are incredibly resilient as a nation, and have suffered through exceptional incompetence, and still came out better for it. It is often said that the way a candidate runs his campaign will be how he runs his country... and if that is the case, we don't have anything to worry about just yet... I'm all for aggressive, crafty, and cash in the bank.

by popular demand

...a couple of shots of my triumphant, bar-tab/cash winning costume.







I was sorely tempted to put it on a second time tonight and hit up a couple of other bars with contests tonight, but laziness and the need to be at work tomorrow morning won out.