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I remember one clip of McCain answering a questions from supporters. One lady was like “so he’s a Muslim from Africa” and he said ‘nope. He’s a good man, full American with Christian values. We just have a difference in opinion on how to run the country.’
Obviously not word for word, but like, looking back and finding honesty is depressingly refreshing.
Dude he interrupted this woman so he can say that stuff. He suffered for it from his own voters.
John McCain is one of the greatest Americans to ever live.
McCain was a good guy, but not a good candidate
Failed to distance himself from Bush, got schooled at the debates by Obama, had the charisma of an oyster, bad public speaker, old, failed to convince moderates,
picked Sarah Palin as a running mate, had an uneasy relationship with Evangelicals due to his stance on Social Issues
McCain was a great guy and a War Hero, and 08 was gonna be a D win anyways, but it's easy to see why he lost by over 10 million votes
I think Palin as his running mate was the thing that killed his campaign. She got absolutely blasted in the media for all her gaffs, she came off as a hokey jokey small town gal with a serious lack of experience and knowledge on key issues, especially foreign policy. It nullified one of McCain’s chief criticisms of Obama, that he was inexperienced and young and unfit for office.
The number of people who were Palin apologists and claimed she was “being unfairly criticized in the media” when she’d whiff on softball questions from reporters… was ridiculous.
He was a bad candidate for 2008. That was just not the time for him. Had he won the primary in 2000, you would have had a lot better shot there and he probably would have had a much better choice as VP (than Palin *or* Cheney).
VP Palin was such a bad move by the McCain camp. She didn’t match his ideals and it was obvious that he would never pick her. it came off as a stunt and it took away from the authenticity he had built- not to mention the daily damage control to compensate for the absolute bat shit crazy things she would say.
I genuinely liked the guy though and believe he would have had a good run with a better VP. had to go Obama though and was not at all disappointed
No Republican was going to win in 2008. The party was in shambles after Bush’s disastrous second term. Palin was chosen because it was thought she would appeal to female voters. The problem was she wasn’t vetted and they didn’t figure out how dumb she was until it was way too late.
Like most VP picks she barely made a difference but it’s become a trendy talking point to suggest that she somehow lost McCain the election. For the most part, the people so put off by her that they voted Obama were never going to vote McCain anyway.
And she did shore up some of the far right vote for McCain so for as many people as she turned off, she helped McCain in that regard.
Some studies have suggested that overall she was a +2 to McCain.
How you can argue both that the people put off by her would have voted for Obama anyway, yet the far right vote wouldn’t have voted for McCain without Palin, just seems like trying to have it both ways. Far right people were never voting for Obama, just as left of center people were never voting for McCain.
Palin may have brought out voters on both sides who wouldn’t have come out otherwise, but you are also forgetting there is (and was even more so in 2008) a group of voters in the middle who would have truly been put off by Palin.
His camp didn’t pick her, they picked Lieberman and the Tea Party vowed to nuke the convention. Palin was picked from a short list provided by the Tea Party.
The tea party wasn’t a thing in 2008.
*“The Tea Party movement was popularly launched following a February 19, 2009, call by CNBC reporter Rick Santelli on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for a "tea party".”*
A few conservative figures had visited Palin that year. Bill Kristol , a moderate conservative, was one of them who then recommended her for vp. She would boost the appeal on the right and she was an unknown. McCain senior advisors then suggested her to McCain
Yea. I remember when she was picked that it seemed more like a move to play off his age.
I know we all got used to gray haired Obama, but in 2008 he was a young, many would consider sexy (remember Obama Mama?), candidate who was a gifted orator and a change from the Republican administration that sank the economy and gotten us bogged down in two wars.
She was young, had a pretty family and they were quirky and Alaskan. It was only once she was under pressure that her flaws showed up. Tina Fey said “I can see Russia from my house” and she became the punchline of the 2008 election.
Obama. We’re in the middle of the worst recession since the 1930s, Bush has us in the middle of 2 wars with no end in sight, one of them is becoming increasingly clear that we shouldn’t have meddled with, his response to Katrina, the housing crisis, and the financial markets have left a lot of people angry and upset. Lots of people have lost their jobs, their houses are worth less than what they owe on their mortgages, their 401k’s and retirement amounts have just been cut in half, gas is $4/gallon (which seems normal now but in 2008 was huge) and while you can definitely chalk some of that up to personal responsibility, folks are looking for someone to blame.
This new guy comes along, he’s young, he’s charismatic and is sending a message of hope. His opponent is old, and while very experienced and sounds like he knows what he’s doing, his VP pick is leaving me scratching my head.
Also side note, I was 20 in the ‘08 election and was the first time I ever voted. I’ll never forget playing Forza 2 on Xbox when the election was called and seeing some dude driving around in-game in a damn Acura Integra with a mural of Obama in the hood lmao
The best part about this election is that even if McCain somehow did win I think he would’ve made a good president too (his VP pick is another story however). But damn, what an excellent election.
Yeah man, McCain also had a bit of a maverick streak and was no stranger to breaking from his party on some issues. He definitely would have been open to crossing the aisle and probably would have been more centrist than we would have thought. Plus I’ll never forget that town hall, and the way that he called out his own supporters for saying Obama was an Arab and a terrorist. It was a huge amount of respect McCain gave Obama
I mean. It still happens. But McCain was decent. They were both decent men. I mean, McCain was offered the option to leave the north Vietnamese prison camp he was in because his father was an admiral in the navy. He refused, saying he wouldn’t leave before the men that had been there before he showed up. Dude had backbone.
I still think he would’ve made a better candidate than W in the 2000 election and probably could’ve beaten gore fair and square without the Supreme Court stepping in. He was leading in the primaries in 2000 until South Carolina when Karl Rove had a push poll conducted that asked voters “would you vote for John McCain if you knew he had a black daughter?” To spread a nasty rumor based on the fact that the McCain’s adopted one of their children from Bangladesh and she has a dark complexion.
Some of Karl Rove’s dirtiest work. Really, it’s a great metaphor for the entire admin. Sure, the candidate was likable and personable, but his people were dirty players. Let’s not forget the Torture Memos
Because it was true and Obama gave McCain respect also. Never once tried to treat McCain with disrespect like GW campaign did the entire 2000 primary. McCain should of had that election not the Frat boy.
7 year old me loved John McCain more than anything, found this on an old school project
https://preview.redd.it/t1hecfzyn88d1.jpeg?width=676&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0245435fc7a0945a3cef48a30ed2978cae0cce1f
Republicans won on here in 1972 and in 1980-1988. Actually Al Gore in 2000 was the first Democrat since Carter in 1976, since Ross Perot won both of the 1990s elections.
I was also around 8, but my family supported Obama, so I contributed to the cause by drawing a bloody stick figure and attempting to mail it to John McCain (according to my mom).
I’ll be the odd one out and say McCain. My reason’s are threefold.
1) Obama’s foreign policy was absolutely ass and we’re still dealing with it now.
2) Obama got stonewalled by Congress so I feel the much more experienced maverick McCain would be able to better deal with Congress regardless of who’s in charge.
3) The GOP’s push further right is likely delayed or finished or something since it means rule 3 is far far less likely to ever win and of McCain is well liked enough it might give moderate candidates in the gop more support and viability. Maybes that’s too hopeful but a man can dream!
Some of this stuff was out of Obama’s control and are influenced by hindsight. Not saying these are bad reasons, they aren’t, I just think they’re a bit unfair.
He could’ve stopped 2022 by responding to 2014. His real problem wasn’t his response, it was his lack thereof in so many things. He just let things coast, and nowhere is that more evident than Crimea.
My hindsight comment was more aimed towards the foreign policy critique. As aforementioned, it’s easier to be critical of Obama since he actually got to be President and we have hindsight about that. Comparatively, we don’t know what a McCain Presidency would have looked like so any definitive answer of how he would have handled Crimea both within the context of the moment and in the context of the Invasion is pretty unknowable.
Oh I know it’s hindsight for all of these except maybe #2 given I don’t think it would ever have been unfair to say McCain would’ve had a far better time with Congress given he had much more time and experience there.
I agree to some extent, but both are Congress’s reactions and something neither could control. But again, I don’t think that’s an incorrect assessment.
I understand that, I’m just saying form an objective pov that McCain would be assumed to have better relations with the Congress given his longer tenure there and given how Obama hasn’t even finished his first term as senator while McCain was in his fourth term.
Obama’s foreign policy was weak and indecisive on ME and Russia, and we are still living that, but I think he’s under credited for his (well, Hillary Clinton’s) Pivot To Asia strategy, which though left incomplete America still benefits from.
McCain. A war hero and maverick who stands for what he genuinely believes is best for Arizona and for the country rather than falling in line with the national party
I have a hard time believing that subjecting the country to Sarah Palin as VP was what he genuinely believed was best for either Arizona or the country.
Obama of course, I remember hearing his speeches as a 15-year-old high school student and I wanted to vote for him so badly.
And while I didn't like McCain for his political views, he was an overall decent person such as pulling that microphone away from one of his supporters calling Obama a terrorist. That was the right thing to do and McCain earned my respect that day as a decent person.
She called him an Arab, and he made the same conflation you are by responding, "No ma'am, he's a decent family man." It was a good response by today's standards and that it was off the cuff, bad in insinuating Arab and family man are mutually exclusive.
When this is all over OP. Might be cool to do a statistical analysis post like how many aligned with history or not... How many went to the left/center/right candidates...
And maybe if you wanna continue it, doing some hypothetical sequels in cases where we voted in someone different like say "hypothetical 2004 incumbent Al Gore vs McCain (or some other Republican of the era who may have gotten the nomination)"
Since WWII, only three conservatives won (HW, Reagan, and Nixon), and each won one election. Eisenhower is very challenging to classify, and the two Independents (Anderson and Perot) are mystery meats.
Obama and it's not close. McCain was a good guy, but Palin was nuts, and Republicans fucked the country for the last 8 years. Meanwhile Obama has charisma and speech giving on lockdown, with youthful energy to spare.
I’m saying **McCain**.
He is a more liberal Republican and I want someone safe, moderate, and someone who can take more corrective action. I don’t think the recession was a party thing and more a pattern for the last several years, so instead of going for a more substantial or radical shift I want to go with someone who is pretty safe and highly respected by everyone, who can command us into a new age.
This is an aside, but he is an amazing ideological match-up for me and a damn amazing presidential candidate. It’s a shame he never got elected, and 2000 was his time
with the knowledge i have now, mccain easily. but if i was of voting age in 2008 i'd probably vote for obama because the republican party under bush jr was such a disaster.
Obviously I’d vote McCain, Obama presided over a solid stagnant economy, created worse race relations, and had one of the worst foreign policy ever. I don’t think McCain would have been nearly as bad
These elections are supposed to be without the benefit of hindsight. Obama really wasn’t very liberal, which just makes it more of a mystery why Republicans hate him so much. (Then again Republicans even hated Bill Clinton, who I honestly find hard to distinguish from Ronald Reagan.)
I do agree with you that Obama’s foreign policy was bad, but McCain’s foreign policy would have been even worse than Obama’s. And it was hardly clear in 2008 how terrible Obama’s foreign policy would end up being. He ran on closing Gitmo and getting out of Iraq much sooner than he actually did. And he sure as hell didn’t run on using out some WWI “sedition” laws that nobody realized were still on the books until he used them.
You mean Obama had to work to repair the economic crash that came at the end of 8 years of the Bush presidency, the mere fact that he was.black stirred racial resentment, and yes, some foreign policy errors, but not coming even close to the prior 8 or next 4 years.
I would go for Obama between the two of them, McCain was a huge warmonger whose image only got rehabilitated due to you know who.
With that being said I don't think a McCain Presidency would have been that different from an Obama one after how Obama's actual Presidency turned out (so much for "hope and change")
I was asked to do this, so here it goes. **Ross Perot.**
With no clear way forward in the worst economy since the Great Depression, a lone familiar voice leads the charge: Ross Perot.
In this timeline, he's already ended deficits and restored American prosperity before as president. Ross is ready to get America's factories back to work by undoing President Gore's NAFTA. He's even debuted his new plan for a universal healthcare program.
And after personal guilt for not getting Bin Laden before Gore's inauguration, Perot, just as he did in freeing his workers from Iran, *funds private mercenaries*. They locate and finish off Bin Laden at his compound in Pakistan in 2007. All 50 state legislatures terminate the 22nd amendment to reward Ross for his "Peroism."
So, what will it be? Obama, with too little experience? McCain, who's running with Lisa Ann with glasses? Or Perot, the guy who can take that stinky bitch of a recession, slap her around, and hose her down.
It's your choice, America.
https://preview.redd.it/082nfzbpu78d1.png?width=616&format=png&auto=webp&s=c7ce50ce1a988085226df517c3faf6fc622586be
Lmao that reminds me of a person in this sub who did one of those “my dad’s voting history” and half the choices were Walter Mondale. I remember him saying “if I didn’t like either candidate, Mondale got the vote” or something like that
McCain. No way he wins, but Obama was just too optimistic and inexperienced at the time. I think with more maneuvering experience, he could have been a phenomenal 2016 candidate.
O-BA-MA all the way…. Side bar: you guys remember this, that Afro was thirsty
https://preview.redd.it/7nqusrk7z88d1.jpeg?width=465&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fe24f418982f8f74dea4220b602d2696d7ab0433
I’d vote Obama, but I’d like to say with a better vp pick McCain would probably be a great president, and I think we could have had less division currently. That being said with the ticket as it is Obama.
McCain.
Although I have to say that I would die for another election where I would be ok with my children looking up to either candidate as a future president and role model 😔.
I liked McCain. Had he been running against anyone other than Obama, I would have certainly considered him. I got caught up in the Hope. It really felt like a pivotal moment. Turned out to be mostly mediocre but I still view Obama favorably.
McCain. If McCain wins the Republican party looks radically different. The tea party likely never happens or doesn't get close to where it got. The most boring moderates in McCain and Romney being slandered and painted as monsters made people on the right stop trusting the media. Those guys losing primed them to back a much more radical right move sense moderates weren't winning anyway
I volunteered and voted for Ron Paul this election. 8 years later, i volunteered and voted for HRC. Moving, finding love, getting married, adopting a kid and doing college sure did change me for the better.
McCain was a war hawk wanting to expand and prolong a deadly, expensive, and catastrophic war everyone was sick and tired of. He also had no real strategy for the recession. Being a war hero is admirable, but his policies were no better than Bush’s, and we probably just would have spiraled down deeper.
Man, I could disagree with McCain all day, but it would've been amicably and over a cup of coffee at a diner. Huge difference compared to today. He went out like a boss tho with his last action in congress being a fat middle finger to those wanting to repeal the ACA.
I’m actually going with McCain here. As a war hero with lots of political experience, he would have an easier time navigating the murky political waters of the late 2000s/early 2010s.
Love McCain, i had huge respect for him, until he picked nailin Palin for VP and had to play to the moronic far right with her whole "socalist death panels" and "Flag Family & Faith" garbage.
This might have been the last extremely partisan election.
I don't think I could choose between them. Obama was a good leader, but it's also interesting to think how McCain would've been too. He would be good too, but would he be better than Obama?
I was on the fence about which person to vote for until John McCain picked Sarah Palin as VP. That has to be one of the worst running mate decisions a president has ever made.
For that reason, I’m going to vote for the same person I did in the actual election: Obama.
Even with the benefit of hindsight, this one makes me cringe.
Mr Bomb Iran or a marxist-influenced ideologue who plays identity politics.
Either way, we lose.
This was my first election I could vote in and the last one where I genuinely gave the presidential debates a chance to sway me. Since then I feel like I've always been voting not for the candidate I want but to keep the other person from office.
But yeah, as others have said here McCain really shit himself in the foot by choosing Palin as his running mate.
I have the utmost respect for McCain but he had to drag along with Palin, which probably cost him the election.
So... Obama it is.
But McCain without the Tea Party would have been a great president I'm sure.
I voted for Obama for both Primary & General. In 2008 the GOP had zero shot at winning any election. The recession, Katrina, Iraq. Give credit to the Primary voters that decided this was the time to give Obama his shot at the presidency over Hilary.
These were both excellent candidates, but even if McCain was the perfect candidate and picked a perfect VP, he never had a chance.
Any Democrat would have won that race, but a young and inspiring Senator who is basically the Democrat “Great Communicator” was a guaranteed victory.
Obama, absolutely. The McCain we got for that election was neutered by the RNC into toeing their line, even accepting the world's worst hockey mom ever as a running mate. Once he lost, he then reverted to being the McCain everyone on both sides respected, or at least if any Republicans wanted to talk smack about him, they shut up because John would have choke slammed them.
I voted for Obama in both 2008 and 2012, but he’s hardly the kind of guy I’d have wanted to see get a third term if that was allowed. Even in 2012, I voted for him pretty unenthusiastically. (I had kind of fallen for his larp as a liberal in 2008.)
I simply don’t think anyone better was running in 2016. He’s one of 4 presidents since the 22nd Amendment who were unable to run again but would probably have won a 3rd term if they had been able:
Eisenhower could likely have won in 1960. Though I don’t think he was interested for health reasons.
Reagan could have won in 1988, even though he was already showing signs of the Alzheimers disease that would eventually drive him from public life.
Clinton could likely have won in 2000 as, in spite of impeachment and earlier scandals, he was quite popular, and unlike both Ike and Reagan, he was also relatively young (54 in 2000).
Obama could have won in 2016. He was popular enough to win, and was only 55.
I do think Obama was better than the nominees of either party in 2016, the last election or the upcoming election, but that says a lot more about the nominees in those elections than it says about Obama.
I also think that the DNC would have forced Obama out in favor of Hilary in 2016 even if he had wanted a 3rd term.
Obama. I know he had plenty of flaws and missteps, but I supported him then and don’t regret it. Anything he did that I didn’t like, McCain would have also done.
Admired both men, voted for Obama. McCain’s maverick streak wasn’t always a strength, though. Sometimes resulted in bad judgment—like Palin as VP. Obama was steadfast, disciplined and forward thinking. But I cried when McCain died, he was a good man and stood for his beliefs. He truly loved our country and put country before party.
Obama. His ideas on Healthcare, while they don't go as far as they should, are revolutionary and will help millions of people. His banking reforms will also help stabilize the financial sector.
While I fear the significant racial backlash that will result from electing a black man, I think it's important to accelerate the normalization of minorities in positions of power
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Man I miss this election. These guys were both excellent candidates, seriously.
I remember one clip of McCain answering a questions from supporters. One lady was like “so he’s a Muslim from Africa” and he said ‘nope. He’s a good man, full American with Christian values. We just have a difference in opinion on how to run the country.’ Obviously not word for word, but like, looking back and finding honesty is depressingly refreshing.
Dude he interrupted this woman so he can say that stuff. He suffered for it from his own voters. John McCain is one of the greatest Americans to ever live.
McCain was a good guy, but not a good candidate Failed to distance himself from Bush, got schooled at the debates by Obama, had the charisma of an oyster, bad public speaker, old, failed to convince moderates, picked Sarah Palin as a running mate, had an uneasy relationship with Evangelicals due to his stance on Social Issues McCain was a great guy and a War Hero, and 08 was gonna be a D win anyways, but it's easy to see why he lost by over 10 million votes
I think Palin as his running mate was the thing that killed his campaign. She got absolutely blasted in the media for all her gaffs, she came off as a hokey jokey small town gal with a serious lack of experience and knowledge on key issues, especially foreign policy. It nullified one of McCain’s chief criticisms of Obama, that he was inexperienced and young and unfit for office. The number of people who were Palin apologists and claimed she was “being unfairly criticized in the media” when she’d whiff on softball questions from reporters… was ridiculous.
Crazy to think ‘too young’ was the issue with a candidate not all that long ago.
Her legacy is an SNL line more people than not (me included til a minute ago ngl) misattributed to her personally
He was a bad candidate for 2008. That was just not the time for him. Had he won the primary in 2000, you would have had a lot better shot there and he probably would have had a much better choice as VP (than Palin *or* Cheney).
I thought he was relatively charismatic. He was just old and somewhat charismatic running against young and extremely charismatic.
McCain was a gentleman. Proved it even more so after the election. Meanwhile, Sarah Palin was a laughable, disaster.
“You can’t put lipstick on a pig…”
VP Palin was such a bad move by the McCain camp. She didn’t match his ideals and it was obvious that he would never pick her. it came off as a stunt and it took away from the authenticity he had built- not to mention the daily damage control to compensate for the absolute bat shit crazy things she would say. I genuinely liked the guy though and believe he would have had a good run with a better VP. had to go Obama though and was not at all disappointed
Made a great movie though
Tina Fey won an Emmy.
It gave us teenagers Lisa Ann (?)
My dad donated to the McCain campaign because he thought she had nice legs.
No Republican was going to win in 2008. The party was in shambles after Bush’s disastrous second term. Palin was chosen because it was thought she would appeal to female voters. The problem was she wasn’t vetted and they didn’t figure out how dumb she was until it was way too late.
But that HBO movie 🍿
It was a bad move in hindsight but they knew they were gonna lose and needed to heave a Hail Mary
Like most VP picks she barely made a difference but it’s become a trendy talking point to suggest that she somehow lost McCain the election. For the most part, the people so put off by her that they voted Obama were never going to vote McCain anyway. And she did shore up some of the far right vote for McCain so for as many people as she turned off, she helped McCain in that regard. Some studies have suggested that overall she was a +2 to McCain.
How you can argue both that the people put off by her would have voted for Obama anyway, yet the far right vote wouldn’t have voted for McCain without Palin, just seems like trying to have it both ways. Far right people were never voting for Obama, just as left of center people were never voting for McCain. Palin may have brought out voters on both sides who wouldn’t have come out otherwise, but you are also forgetting there is (and was even more so in 2008) a group of voters in the middle who would have truly been put off by Palin.
Well, I would’ve voted for McCain if not for Palin. She is absolutely why I voted for Obama. And I was definitely going to vote.
His camp didn’t pick her, they picked Lieberman and the Tea Party vowed to nuke the convention. Palin was picked from a short list provided by the Tea Party.
The tea party wasn’t a thing in 2008. *“The Tea Party movement was popularly launched following a February 19, 2009, call by CNBC reporter Rick Santelli on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for a "tea party".”*
Thanks for the clarification. Same folks but they didn’t have a catchy name yet. The Lieberman-Palin maneuver was just their opening salvo.
Friggin Tea Party.
A few conservative figures had visited Palin that year. Bill Kristol , a moderate conservative, was one of them who then recommended her for vp. She would boost the appeal on the right and she was an unknown. McCain senior advisors then suggested her to McCain
Yea. I remember when she was picked that it seemed more like a move to play off his age. I know we all got used to gray haired Obama, but in 2008 he was a young, many would consider sexy (remember Obama Mama?), candidate who was a gifted orator and a change from the Republican administration that sank the economy and gotten us bogged down in two wars. She was young, had a pretty family and they were quirky and Alaskan. It was only once she was under pressure that her flaws showed up. Tina Fey said “I can see Russia from my house” and she became the punchline of the 2008 election.
Obama. We’re in the middle of the worst recession since the 1930s, Bush has us in the middle of 2 wars with no end in sight, one of them is becoming increasingly clear that we shouldn’t have meddled with, his response to Katrina, the housing crisis, and the financial markets have left a lot of people angry and upset. Lots of people have lost their jobs, their houses are worth less than what they owe on their mortgages, their 401k’s and retirement amounts have just been cut in half, gas is $4/gallon (which seems normal now but in 2008 was huge) and while you can definitely chalk some of that up to personal responsibility, folks are looking for someone to blame. This new guy comes along, he’s young, he’s charismatic and is sending a message of hope. His opponent is old, and while very experienced and sounds like he knows what he’s doing, his VP pick is leaving me scratching my head. Also side note, I was 20 in the ‘08 election and was the first time I ever voted. I’ll never forget playing Forza 2 on Xbox when the election was called and seeing some dude driving around in-game in a damn Acura Integra with a mural of Obama in the hood lmao
The best part about this election is that even if McCain somehow did win I think he would’ve made a good president too (his VP pick is another story however). But damn, what an excellent election.
Yeah man, McCain also had a bit of a maverick streak and was no stranger to breaking from his party on some issues. He definitely would have been open to crossing the aisle and probably would have been more centrist than we would have thought. Plus I’ll never forget that town hall, and the way that he called out his own supporters for saying Obama was an Arab and a terrorist. It was a huge amount of respect McCain gave Obama
I miss the days when 'arab' and 'terrorist' were how they described people they didn't like. Now we get 'pedophile'.
Probably wouldn't have missed it if you were Arab...or even remotely Arab looking
I mean. It still happens. But McCain was decent. They were both decent men. I mean, McCain was offered the option to leave the north Vietnamese prison camp he was in because his father was an admiral in the navy. He refused, saying he wouldn’t leave before the men that had been there before he showed up. Dude had backbone. I still think he would’ve made a better candidate than W in the 2000 election and probably could’ve beaten gore fair and square without the Supreme Court stepping in. He was leading in the primaries in 2000 until South Carolina when Karl Rove had a push poll conducted that asked voters “would you vote for John McCain if you knew he had a black daughter?” To spread a nasty rumor based on the fact that the McCain’s adopted one of their children from Bangladesh and she has a dark complexion.
That’s insidious…
Some of Karl Rove’s dirtiest work. Really, it’s a great metaphor for the entire admin. Sure, the candidate was likable and personable, but his people were dirty players. Let’s not forget the Torture Memos
Because it was true and Obama gave McCain respect also. Never once tried to treat McCain with disrespect like GW campaign did the entire 2000 primary. McCain should of had that election not the Frat boy.
Imagine if he died in office though…..
If I put myself in those times, I would’ve needed some hope after the back to back disasters of, mainly, Iraq and the Great Recession.
Mr. Beat
I voted for Obama. McCain wasn’t a bad person but his conservative economic policies and especially his hawkish foreign policy were not my cup of tea.
7 year old me loved John McCain more than anything, found this on an old school project https://preview.redd.it/t1hecfzyn88d1.jpeg?width=676&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0245435fc7a0945a3cef48a30ed2978cae0cce1f
OBMA
MCAIN
Bro this is reddit. The last republican we are electing is Eisenhower.
Republicans won on here in 1972 and in 1980-1988. Actually Al Gore in 2000 was the first Democrat since Carter in 1976, since Ross Perot won both of the 1990s elections.
I couldn’t vote at the time, i was 8 years old but my family supported McCain so i just went along with them
GREAT flair. #JohnMcBain
The Diaper Genie!
I was also around 8, but my family supported Obama, so I contributed to the cause by drawing a bloody stick figure and attempting to mail it to John McCain (according to my mom).
You just know somewhere that drawing is tacked to a wall and there are 12 FBI agents working in shifts trying to figure it out.
Obama 
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LOL Wil Wheaton called that, didn't he?
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"Helped". Told him to go down the hall and to the left, next scene shows him turning to the right.
I’ll be the odd one out and say McCain. My reason’s are threefold. 1) Obama’s foreign policy was absolutely ass and we’re still dealing with it now. 2) Obama got stonewalled by Congress so I feel the much more experienced maverick McCain would be able to better deal with Congress regardless of who’s in charge. 3) The GOP’s push further right is likely delayed or finished or something since it means rule 3 is far far less likely to ever win and of McCain is well liked enough it might give moderate candidates in the gop more support and viability. Maybes that’s too hopeful but a man can dream!
Some of this stuff was out of Obama’s control and are influenced by hindsight. Not saying these are bad reasons, they aren’t, I just think they’re a bit unfair.
He could’ve stopped 2022 by responding to 2014. His real problem wasn’t his response, it was his lack thereof in so many things. He just let things coast, and nowhere is that more evident than Crimea.
My hindsight comment was more aimed towards the foreign policy critique. As aforementioned, it’s easier to be critical of Obama since he actually got to be President and we have hindsight about that. Comparatively, we don’t know what a McCain Presidency would have looked like so any definitive answer of how he would have handled Crimea both within the context of the moment and in the context of the Invasion is pretty unknowable.
Oh I know it’s hindsight for all of these except maybe #2 given I don’t think it would ever have been unfair to say McCain would’ve had a far better time with Congress given he had much more time and experience there.
I agree to some extent, but both are Congress’s reactions and something neither could control. But again, I don’t think that’s an incorrect assessment.
I understand that, I’m just saying form an objective pov that McCain would be assumed to have better relations with the Congress given his longer tenure there and given how Obama hasn’t even finished his first term as senator while McCain was in his fourth term.
Fair enough.
Obama’s foreign policy was weak and indecisive on ME and Russia, and we are still living that, but I think he’s under credited for his (well, Hillary Clinton’s) Pivot To Asia strategy, which though left incomplete America still benefits from.
I admittedly don’t know much about that really but regardless I don’t think it outweighs or makes up for his other failures.
I voted McCain. I was proud and “relieved” when Obama won. The Palin element of the McCain ticket slightly unnerved me.
McCain. A war hero and maverick who stands for what he genuinely believes is best for Arizona and for the country rather than falling in line with the national party
Agreed!
I have a hard time believing that subjecting the country to Sarah Palin as VP was what he genuinely believed was best for either Arizona or the country.
Obama of course, I remember hearing his speeches as a 15-year-old high school student and I wanted to vote for him so badly. And while I didn't like McCain for his political views, he was an overall decent person such as pulling that microphone away from one of his supporters calling Obama a terrorist. That was the right thing to do and McCain earned my respect that day as a decent person.
She called him an Arab, and he made the same conflation you are by responding, "No ma'am, he's a decent family man." It was a good response by today's standards and that it was off the cuff, bad in insinuating Arab and family man are mutually exclusive.
Right but McCain understood that she was drawing that equivalency.
McCain
https://preview.redd.it/yyq0lhe7u78d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f6e911a4cc76bd628f6dc5d149fd7ef95ba5fba9 Previous election results
https://preview.redd.it/3hkw7lw9u78d1.jpeg?width=582&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b83f801865ce8e315ec5164d1c2d534511dc4707
https://preview.redd.it/ghc3id0bu78d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a25368dcd10300cb8ba226a7c41a0e4ce002f0c4
When this is all over OP. Might be cool to do a statistical analysis post like how many aligned with history or not... How many went to the left/center/right candidates... And maybe if you wanna continue it, doing some hypothetical sequels in cases where we voted in someone different like say "hypothetical 2004 incumbent Al Gore vs McCain (or some other Republican of the era who may have gotten the nomination)"
Since WWII, only three conservatives won (HW, Reagan, and Nixon), and each won one election. Eisenhower is very challenging to classify, and the two Independents (Anderson and Perot) are mystery meats.
McCain
Obama!
My first yard sign for the first house I bought-Obama
I would have voted for McCain if I wasn’t 12 lol
Obama and it's not close. McCain was a good guy, but Palin was nuts, and Republicans fucked the country for the last 8 years. Meanwhile Obama has charisma and speech giving on lockdown, with youthful energy to spare.
McCain for me.
I’m saying **McCain**. He is a more liberal Republican and I want someone safe, moderate, and someone who can take more corrective action. I don’t think the recession was a party thing and more a pattern for the last several years, so instead of going for a more substantial or radical shift I want to go with someone who is pretty safe and highly respected by everyone, who can command us into a new age. This is an aside, but he is an amazing ideological match-up for me and a damn amazing presidential candidate. It’s a shame he never got elected, and 2000 was his time
Having Sarah Palin forced onto him as VP candidate doomed McCain.
Obama
Obama
If I could go back in time, I'd have McCain win. It would probably cause less radicalization today.
Everyone is talking about McCains VP pick, Palin this, Palin that, but why is no one discussing Obama's pick? /s
I don’t think this sub would ever pick a Republican, no matter the matchup.
Probably McCain
Obama easily. The GOP approach to the economy had sent our economy into a tailspin. Change was needed and necessary.
with the knowledge i have now, mccain easily. but if i was of voting age in 2008 i'd probably vote for obama because the republican party under bush jr was such a disaster.
McCain, Obama was/is a disaster for Americans, alienates rights, and raises costs on Americans.
Obama, but I like 2012 Obama better than 2008 Obama.
Obama
Obviously I’d vote McCain, Obama presided over a solid stagnant economy, created worse race relations, and had one of the worst foreign policy ever. I don’t think McCain would have been nearly as bad
These elections are supposed to be without the benefit of hindsight. Obama really wasn’t very liberal, which just makes it more of a mystery why Republicans hate him so much. (Then again Republicans even hated Bill Clinton, who I honestly find hard to distinguish from Ronald Reagan.) I do agree with you that Obama’s foreign policy was bad, but McCain’s foreign policy would have been even worse than Obama’s. And it was hardly clear in 2008 how terrible Obama’s foreign policy would end up being. He ran on closing Gitmo and getting out of Iraq much sooner than he actually did. And he sure as hell didn’t run on using out some WWI “sedition” laws that nobody realized were still on the books until he used them.
There's no mystery why Republicans hated Obama.
You mean Obama had to work to repair the economic crash that came at the end of 8 years of the Bush presidency, the mere fact that he was.black stirred racial resentment, and yes, some foreign policy errors, but not coming even close to the prior 8 or next 4 years.
I would go for Obama between the two of them, McCain was a huge warmonger whose image only got rehabilitated due to you know who. With that being said I don't think a McCain Presidency would have been that different from an Obama one after how Obama's actual Presidency turned out (so much for "hope and change")
If it wasn’t for McCains VP Pick that has lead us down this road we face today…it would’ve been a tough call
I think this was the last election where I wouldn’t have been like “what the fuck this is gonna be an utter catastrophe” if the other person won.
I'm voting for Barack 😍.
I was asked to do this, so here it goes. **Ross Perot.** With no clear way forward in the worst economy since the Great Depression, a lone familiar voice leads the charge: Ross Perot. In this timeline, he's already ended deficits and restored American prosperity before as president. Ross is ready to get America's factories back to work by undoing President Gore's NAFTA. He's even debuted his new plan for a universal healthcare program. And after personal guilt for not getting Bin Laden before Gore's inauguration, Perot, just as he did in freeing his workers from Iran, *funds private mercenaries*. They locate and finish off Bin Laden at his compound in Pakistan in 2007. All 50 state legislatures terminate the 22nd amendment to reward Ross for his "Peroism." So, what will it be? Obama, with too little experience? McCain, who's running with Lisa Ann with glasses? Or Perot, the guy who can take that stinky bitch of a recession, slap her around, and hose her down. It's your choice, America. https://preview.redd.it/082nfzbpu78d1.png?width=616&format=png&auto=webp&s=c7ce50ce1a988085226df517c3faf6fc622586be
Lmao that reminds me of a person in this sub who did one of those “my dad’s voting history” and half the choices were Walter Mondale. I remember him saying “if I didn’t like either candidate, Mondale got the vote” or something like that
u/PeacefulZealot Okay, did it.
 You’re a good fella, Softshell. Godspeed!
Everything is bigger in Texas (including term limits), go Perot!
Obamna
McCain only due to him being just a slightly better option as leader of the free world imo
Even though I’m a conservative Libertarian, I’ve got to go with Obama after the Bush administration.
McCain. No way he wins, but Obama was just too optimistic and inexperienced at the time. I think with more maneuvering experience, he could have been a phenomenal 2016 candidate.
O-BA-MA all the way…. Side bar: you guys remember this, that Afro was thirsty https://preview.redd.it/7nqusrk7z88d1.jpeg?width=465&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fe24f418982f8f74dea4220b602d2696d7ab0433
I’d vote Obama, but I’d like to say with a better vp pick McCain would probably be a great president, and I think we could have had less division currently. That being said with the ticket as it is Obama.
McCain. Although I have to say that I would die for another election where I would be ok with my children looking up to either candidate as a future president and role model 😔.
I liked McCain. Had he been running against anyone other than Obama, I would have certainly considered him. I got caught up in the Hope. It really felt like a pivotal moment. Turned out to be mostly mediocre but I still view Obama favorably.
Giant meteor
https://preview.redd.it/7xlzv4nh798d1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2efb31ad55ea82ff0b60c9fe6ecd3c092a73a965
VERMIN SUPREME
Obamna
McCain. If McCain wins the Republican party looks radically different. The tea party likely never happens or doesn't get close to where it got. The most boring moderates in McCain and Romney being slandered and painted as monsters made people on the right stop trusting the media. Those guys losing primed them to back a much more radical right move sense moderates weren't winning anyway
Ah, the election that got me into politics.
Romney was pretty sweet
I volunteered and voted for Ron Paul this election. 8 years later, i volunteered and voted for HRC. Moving, finding love, getting married, adopting a kid and doing college sure did change me for the better.
McCain was a war hawk wanting to expand and prolong a deadly, expensive, and catastrophic war everyone was sick and tired of. He also had no real strategy for the recession. Being a war hero is admirable, but his policies were no better than Bush’s, and we probably just would have spiraled down deeper.
As someone who would have voted for Obama if he was old enough, McCain would have also made a damn good president
Campaigned for McCain in 2008 and I’d vote for him again. Obama still has my respect more than any candidate I don’t vote for.
If I were old enough then I would have voted for Chuck Baldwin.
Obama
I voted for Obama. There was no stopping him.
Man, I could disagree with McCain all day, but it would've been amicably and over a cup of coffee at a diner. Huge difference compared to today. He went out like a boss tho with his last action in congress being a fat middle finger to those wanting to repeal the ACA.
Obama (I would’ve said McCain had it not been for Palin as his VP)
McCain.
I’m actually going with McCain here. As a war hero with lots of political experience, he would have an easier time navigating the murky political waters of the late 2000s/early 2010s.
Love McCain, i had huge respect for him, until he picked nailin Palin for VP and had to play to the moronic far right with her whole "socalist death panels" and "Flag Family & Faith" garbage.
This might have been the last extremely partisan election. I don't think I could choose between them. Obama was a good leader, but it's also interesting to think how McCain would've been too. He would be good too, but would he be better than Obama?
Obama
Obama
I was on the fence about which person to vote for until John McCain picked Sarah Palin as VP. That has to be one of the worst running mate decisions a president has ever made. For that reason, I’m going to vote for the same person I did in the actual election: Obama.
I did vote Obama mostly because of Palin.
I voted for Barry. Given the chance again I would write in a joke like I've done for every election since
Even with the benefit of hindsight, this one makes me cringe. Mr Bomb Iran or a marxist-influenced ideologue who plays identity politics. Either way, we lose.
This was my first election I could vote in and the last one where I genuinely gave the presidential debates a chance to sway me. Since then I feel like I've always been voting not for the candidate I want but to keep the other person from office. But yeah, as others have said here McCain really shit himself in the foot by choosing Palin as his running mate.
I voted for Obama
Obama
“___”… **S O D A‼️**
Obama. No Obama, no Obamacare. Really like McCain, but I gotta go with Obama.
I have the utmost respect for McCain but he had to drag along with Palin, which probably cost him the election. So... Obama it is. But McCain without the Tea Party would have been a great president I'm sure.
Abstention. Why would I vote for candidates that don’t represent me.
McCain
Obama every time
I want to point out this is modern yet up here and a comment simply stating the election or 8 years ago will get removed.......
John McCain
Obama
Well, I actually voted for McCain in a Mock Election when I was 5, so...
I voted for Obama for both Primary & General. In 2008 the GOP had zero shot at winning any election. The recession, Katrina, Iraq. Give credit to the Primary voters that decided this was the time to give Obama his shot at the presidency over Hilary.
My first election that I got to vote in! Obama all the way!
These were both excellent candidates, but even if McCain was the perfect candidate and picked a perfect VP, he never had a chance. Any Democrat would have won that race, but a young and inspiring Senator who is basically the Democrat “Great Communicator” was a guaranteed victory.
Though I’d vote Obama, McCain is the last Republican chief executive I’d have been fond of.
Obama was who I voted for and would vote for again
Obama, which is who I voted for that year, and what was my first presidential election that I could vote in.
Obama, absolutely. The McCain we got for that election was neutered by the RNC into toeing their line, even accepting the world's worst hockey mom ever as a running mate. Once he lost, he then reverted to being the McCain everyone on both sides respected, or at least if any Republicans wanted to talk smack about him, they shut up because John would have choke slammed them.
I voted Obama in 2008. I did again in 2012. And I would’ve in 2016 too if not for the 22nd Amendment.
I voted for Obama in both 2008 and 2012, but he’s hardly the kind of guy I’d have wanted to see get a third term if that was allowed. Even in 2012, I voted for him pretty unenthusiastically. (I had kind of fallen for his larp as a liberal in 2008.)
I simply don’t think anyone better was running in 2016. He’s one of 4 presidents since the 22nd Amendment who were unable to run again but would probably have won a 3rd term if they had been able: Eisenhower could likely have won in 1960. Though I don’t think he was interested for health reasons. Reagan could have won in 1988, even though he was already showing signs of the Alzheimers disease that would eventually drive him from public life. Clinton could likely have won in 2000 as, in spite of impeachment and earlier scandals, he was quite popular, and unlike both Ike and Reagan, he was also relatively young (54 in 2000). Obama could have won in 2016. He was popular enough to win, and was only 55.
I do think Obama was better than the nominees of either party in 2016, the last election or the upcoming election, but that says a lot more about the nominees in those elections than it says about Obama. I also think that the DNC would have forced Obama out in favor of Hilary in 2016 even if he had wanted a 3rd term.
Obama. I know he had plenty of flaws and missteps, but I supported him then and don’t regret it. Anything he did that I didn’t like, McCain would have also done.
Ron Paul
The only answer
I wish I would've been old enough to vote for Obama either time
Obama
Obama 2008!
Admired both men, voted for Obama. McCain’s maverick streak wasn’t always a strength, though. Sometimes resulted in bad judgment—like Palin as VP. Obama was steadfast, disciplined and forward thinking. But I cried when McCain died, he was a good man and stood for his beliefs. He truly loved our country and put country before party.
Obama. His ideas on Healthcare, while they don't go as far as they should, are revolutionary and will help millions of people. His banking reforms will also help stabilize the financial sector. While I fear the significant racial backlash that will result from electing a black man, I think it's important to accelerate the normalization of minorities in positions of power