Sorry McCain

The final debate is over and it appears, by all objective measures, that Obama won. I can say now with some certainty that McCain will be losing the election. I'm starting to feel a little sorry for McCain. I think that history and other cultural factors have simply made this Obama's time. E.J. Dionne Jr. said in the Washington Post:

What's striking about the past month is that the great American middle has shifted Obama's way. Recent polls by The Post and ABC News, Gallup, and the Pew Research Center suggest that Obama's gains since mid-September have been especially large among whites, particularly white men, and also among independents and moderates. At this crucial juncture, the contours of the 2008 contest are remarkably similar to those of the 2006 midterm elections that ended with a Democratic victory. Strikingly -- and no doubt unintentionally -- McCain echoed the Democrats' 2006 campaign theme when he said that voters want the country to move in "a new direction." That's McCain's problem.

McCain had a chance in 2000 to be the party's nominee and he lost to Bush. The 2008 McCain is a much different man. Since 2000, his attitude has seemed to be "wait my turn and win at any cost". Unfortunately, McCain is no longer a maverick -- he's changed for the worse.