Historians: John Sidney McCain doesn't stand a chance

By GottaLaff

Poor John Sidney McWannaBe. From an historian's p.o.v., he's a loser. Come to think of it, from any p.o.v., he's a loser. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt. I'm sure it's intentional, part of his brilliant plan, playing the role of underdog. Or maybe he's delusional, perversely believing that failure has its own peculiar sort of allure or mystique. Or maybe he's just a loser:

One week into the general election, the polls show a dead heat. But many presidential scholars doubt that John McCain stands much of a chance, if any.

Historians belonging to both parties offered a litany of historical comparisons that give little hope to the Republican. Several saw Barack Obama’s prospects as the most promising for a Democrat since Roosevelt trounced Hoover in 1932.

It's obvious to J Sid that as long as he, with all that experiency, wisdomy knowhow, keeps on advocating perpetual imprisonment for low-level grunts, pushing tax cuts for rich, poolside investors, and slinging the C-word around, he'll attract voters the way BushCo attracts flies. Which, you see, is why he won't win.

Allan Lichtman, an American University presidential historian, whose forecasting model has correctly predicted the last six presidential popular vote winners:

“This should be an overwhelming Democratic victory [...] Republicans face what have always been insurmountable historical odds.” His system gives McCain a score on par with Jimmy Carter’s in 1980.

Presidential historian Joan Hoff, a professor at Montana State University and former president of the Center for the Study of the Presidency:

“McCain shouldn’t win it.” [...] She compared McCain’s prospects to those of Hubert Humphrey, whose 1968 loss to Richard Nixon resulted in large part from the unpopularity of sitting Democratic president Lyndon Johnson.

Alan Abramowitz, a professor of public opinion and the presidency at Emory University:

“It is one of the worst political environments for the party in power since World War II... It would be a pretty stunning upset if McCain won.”

What could be savvier than embracing the policies and intractability of the worst president in history:

But the biggest obstacle in McCain’s path may be running in the same party as the most unpopular president America has had since at least the advent of modern polling. Only Harry Truman and Nixon — both of whom were dogged by unpopular wars abroad and political scandals at home — have been nearly as unpopular in their last year in office, and both men’s parties lost the presidency in the following election.

Sidney Milkis, a professor of presidential politics at the University of Virginia:

“I can’t think of an upset where the underdog faced quite the odds that McCain faces in this election... Truman didn’t face as difficult a political context as McCain.”

Aw, don't give up, J Sid. Keep trying, because:

(click on graphic to enlarge)