The Depth of Republican Pessimism

One of the dimensions of the presidential campaign that doesn't receive enough comment is the depth of the pessimism among Republican elites concerning John McCain's chances. There are times when it appears that liberal bloggers are the only political commentators who think McCain has a chance to win. It seems that Republicans see Democratic advantage everywhere they look. Insider worries about the incoherence of McCain's campaign induced McCain to replace his senior leadership. When that didn't help, conservative journalists like Rich Lowry and Ramesh Ponnuru started writing articles on how McCain could "turn it around before it's too late" even though McCain's barely behind in the daily Gallup and Rasmussen tracking polls. Other reasons for McCain to lose include the economic tailspin, climbing gas prices, the unpopularity of the war, the even greater unpopularity of the Bush administration, and the Democratic fund-raising advantage.

And Republicans keep seeing new clouds over the horizon.

Today, Newt Gingrich came out with a statement on McCain's VP choice in which he argued that the Obama campaign will have so much energy in the fall that McCain can't afford to nominate another "boring white guy" for vice-president.

“What I’m afraid of is that if Sen. McCain picks one more relatively boring, normal, mainstream Republican white guy … he just makes the ticket seem boring compared to the level of energy and drive and excitement that Obama has . . . And this is not a comment on any of my many friends who are competent people . . . It’s a comment on the objective reality that this fall, there is going to be a lot of energy surrounding the Obama campaign.”

Obama's "fall energy surge"--yet another reason for Republicans to be pessimistic.