3 more McCain mistakes

1) Neglected his base while everyone was focused on the Obama-Clinton race.

He could have had reached out to the Republican base on values issues without a lot of press attention. Instead, he toured solid Democratic areas and talked about his biography--a snooze-fest compared to the battle happening over on the Democratic side. Solidifying the base early would have made the Palin pick unnecessary.

2) Recycled Hillary Clinton's losing strategy.

Painting Obama as "other", attacking him on experience, criticizing his speaking abilities, relying on the largely white vote coming out of Appalachia and the Rust Belt, changing the message daily...need I go on? Oh yea, and he also replicated the Clinton campaign's lack of leadership, staff infighting and inability to budget money.


3) Forgot about the big picture.

Campaigns are about vision and McCain never really presented his to the public. He had a lot of good policy ideas but never pulled it all together. Odd, he really did have all the right ingredients--accountability in government, reducing spending, opposed to some major Bush policies, etc.--but never settled on one clear message. Instead, his campaign got caught up in the tactical details trying to win the daily news cycle. Winning the battle and losing the war.