John McCain's legacy will be changing the Republican party for the worse.

[jillan]

Not only did his campaign bring us Palin, who gave a voice to all the nutcases out there....

He also made Joe the not-really-a-plumber a voice in their party.

Some will remember him as a man that endured torture.
Some will remember him for always wanting to bomb another country.

But when the history books are written, I think they will look at his Presidential run as a turning point as to when the Republican Party was taken over by the crazies.

Seriously, do you think someone like Santorum would ever have been seriously considered before 2008?
What about Joe Walsh, teabagger congressman from Illinois. He is nuts.

[img][/img]
Meet the new base of the Republican Party.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

1. John McCain v.1.0 (ca. 2000)

is a Republican I probably could have tolerated as POTUS. John McCain v.2.0 (ca. 2008) sold out whatever principles he seemed to have in the name of winning and his campaign foisted the crazies on us big time by unleashing "pit-bull-with-lipstick" Palin on our political system. Lest anybody feel sorry for him, his attitude towards President Obama post-election has, with the exception of Election Night 2008, been atrocious and, frankly, not much better than the rest of the GOP.

[Dawson Leery]

3. "McCain 1.0" was most likely penance for his involvement in the S & L scandal.

Remember, McCain's image was badly tarnished after the Keating 5 scandal.

The real McCain is the one we experienced in 2008.

[flamingdem]

4. Don't forget

Bomb bomb bomb and all that. I think he would have been bad news.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. The choice of Palin as running mate

gave the GOP permission to take seriously other politicians like her. Without Palin, neither an inexperienced, unqualified buffoon like Herman Cain nor an extremist throwback to the 15th Century like Rick Santorum nor a megalomaniacal, ethically challenged, disgraced Congressman would have been considered viable presidential candidates. The fact that one of the two major political parties would even consider putting someone like Palin in that position - the possible vice president where the president was an elderly man with health problems - tells us that pandering to the most ignorant, extreme elements of their base is perfectly fine. Romney, an empty suit with no history of the really extreme, deranged policy positions of his competitors, is nevertheless forced to take those positions to prove that he's as "conservative" as they are.

Thanks, John. You managed to kill your own party.

[libinnyandia]

5. W played a role in the destruction. An embarassment