2008 Presidential campaign in retrospect from the campaign managers

[cyberianpan]

Steve Schmidt and David Plouffe shared a stage together yesterday and came to a consensus on key points of the McCain v Obama match. Among other things we learn that Lieberman was McCain's first VP choice ... that Steve Schmidt compares Obama favourably to RFK ... and that McCain was always doomed:

Politico
McCain chief strategist Steve Schmidt and Obama campaign manager David Plouffe seemed to agree on a central point: McCain was always the longest of long-shot candidates.

...
Schmidt, the father of hundreds of attacks on Obama, spoke of the president’s political skills with unabashed admiration.
...
What Schmidt was, mostly, was resigned: He recounted the frustrations and desperation of the campaign, culminating with the decision that insiders continue to debate: To nominate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, rather than McCain’s first choice, Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman, for vice president.

So was McCain always doomed ?
And what of the Palin lovers now that Lieberman was McCain's first VP choice ?
Any other (20/20) thoughts on the 2008 campaign ?

cYp

[youngdan]

I said all along that Lieberman was his first choice and I predicted he would pick Palin. I said Obama would beat Hillary. However I very much overestimated my man's support. I knew from day 1 that Rudy was a no hoper but I wrote off McCain. I still can't believe McCain won actually.

[cyberianpan]

I said all along that Lieberman was his first choice and I predicted he would pick Palin. I said Obama would beat Hillary. However I very much overestimated my man's support. I knew from day 1 that Rudy was a no hoper but I wrote off McCain. I still can't believe McCain won actually.

McCain ha a solid core vote, people like Romney didn't, also many of the GOP base were used to tolerating him by then

I'd expected McCain ... I knew he was a dice roller ... initially I knew Palin was a "game-changer" , just not which direction. I'm surprised that McCain's team didn't manage to vet Palin a little more, at little digging in Anchorage would have shown a lot of temparment and ethics problems.

cYp

[dmc444]

This election was the election of the underdogs. On the GOP side Mike Huckabee and McCain were the main contenders and for the Dems Obama rose up.

VP choices-He did want to Pick Lieberman but thought that Palin would out flank Obama, which she did for a while.When she was picked the Obama camp really did panic- Bidens response was "Sarah Who?". Libermans stance on abortion meant that he could not be chosen.

I would say to anybody who is intersted in this inside campaign knowledge of the 2008 election read Evan Thomas book A long time coming.

[youngdan]

McCain did not want to win. The good news is that there is a guy called Simcox who is running against him for 2010 on immigration so he is on his way out and the sooner the better