It occurs to me that most of the people in the audience for McCain/Palin rallies – those waving “Little Hussein” monkeys, those shouting about Arabs and Mooslums, those standing up to shout that they’re “really mad” – have got to be people that voted against John McCain in the primaries. Why would these guys ever have supported John McCain the Campaign Finance Reformer? John McCain the Bipartisan? Does that even seem credible?
Meanwhile, any reasonable reading of the poll numbers to this point reflects how much of the original Maverick Fanbase has left him. In particular, I’m thinking of all those Independents, especially those who voted for him in the primaries of states where they were able to. I’m not sure enough has been made on this point: what got him to the Republican nomination was independents and moderate Republicans, all of whom are now either abstaining or voting for Barack Obama.
What must it be like for John McCain to be conducting his final political act before a house of hostile strangers?
