Well, you left out the obvious: the nationwide seemingly institutionally unfair media bias against McCain that started off as a a subtle thumb on the scale and ended up as a hard press. I understand your discomfort in listing that one but, come on, the history books won't. Like referees with money bet on the game, you guys made sure that he never had a real chance.

I agree that the above five reasons may be partially responsible for a lost election; However it is ridiculous to assume that traditionally left-wing biased media and a culture that values "change" over ethics had nothing to do with this. Consider the recent story on a major news network citing out of balance statistics regarding comedic attacks against the GOP: Compared to the Democratic Party, one would have thought the GOP itself was a comedic venture as opposed to a political party. Unfortunately, this is generally the case, but this time Barack Obama bought the election. The American people are severely deceived.

In response to the last comment; It is funny how conservatives tout "hard work" as the solution to lower and middle class problems, but when someone with an economic advantage beats them in an election it was "bought". Yes, economic advantage in life is a huge determining factor 9maybe you could apply that lesson to social problems?).

In response to the article, I agree with all of the above but would add:

McCain lost because Bush is probably the worst president in the history of the US. This is not an opinion based upon nothing, the facts are 9under Bush):

THE DEFICIT IS DOUBLE (11 trillion dollars)
240,000 JOBS LOST IN OCTOBER ALONE
TWO WARS (NO BIN LADEN) COST 1 TRILLION DOLLARS
TERRORISTS STILL IN AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN
ONE TRILLION DOLLARS TO BAIL OUT WALL STREET (PLUS HUGE BANK CONSOLIDATIONS)
WEALTH CONSOLIDATION AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS EVER
DOLLAR FALLING
GAS PRICES UP/OIL PRODUCTION DOWN (NO ENERGY PLAN AT ALL)

In Typical fashion the Republicans tend to blame everyone but themselves.

I think the left wing media stuff is way over-blown. Obama tied McCain to to the Bush millstone and threw hum in the pond. Once McCain was tied to Bush, the Demos could have won running a rabid weasel. I reluctantly voted for McCain because I viewed Obama as too liberal. Why reluctant? Age - will he surive four years. Palin - too light weight to be president. Iraq - More of the Bush war. Immigration - too accommodating of the invasion. Obama won so he is my president. I am way tired of the devolution and polarization of politics. We need some statesman like action from these career pols. I'm not hopeful either side of the aisle will finally act in the interests of "We the People" instead of their self-interests, but the Demos now have a chance. It is theirs to succeed or fail. For the sake of the country, I hope they grow and act responsibly. Thoughtful leadership will be a refreshing "change"

Basically , the GOP and its present ideals are old, outdated, ignorant and out of touch.This world is more global and theres more smart people in this world than there are frightened hics clinging to their stupid guns and religion.

A President's job is to assist the nation in finding solutions to its problems. Even before he was elected Barack Obama had solved a problem we have struggled with for thirty years. Campaign funding. And of all things what do you suppose his solution was based upon? Democracy. In the next election both sides will need to energize large numbers of citizens to support the policies upon which the candidates are running with small contributions.

We will now have an entirely new level of review of the candidates required before they can even present themselves as being candidates.

Looking through all the Republican blogs recently, I see that most remaining ones can only resort to calling someone a 'liberal/left-wing/something nasty' if they present rational discourse, which seems to cause extreme discomfort to your type. This is one of the many facets that have turned-off America to your party.
You have become the party of the uneducated, the religiously hypocritical, and the just plain nasty.
Thankfully America has spoken, and you and your kind have been relegated to the trash-heap of history for the moment.
I'm sure your gloriously insightful comments will continue to illustrate your deep understanding of the world, along with the other deeply insightful people here, and will occasionally give people such as myself fodder for amusement when we are bored, and want to look at how low the base of the Republican Party has become, which is all that's left of your party now.
The educated, moderate, and rational-minded people from your party have already gone over to the Democratic Party. You've truly shot yourselves in both feet, and then painted yourselves into a small dark corner as well.
Have fun with all your negativity. Thank God the rest of us don't need to hear it any longer.
I am curious though...what do you have to be proud of, really? You've voted twice for the worst Presidency in United States' history, gotten us into a war we never should have started, and your ideals of unbridled capitalism show their worth every time you see a home-forclosure sign in front of someone's former home and another closed business in your town or city.
Rest on those questionable laurels, and console yourselves that at least you can endlessly commiserate amongst each other... oh and wait! You've got 'God' on your side as well! .... looks like it's worked very well for you... :-)

McCain lost due to failure to connect with we the people.
$500 shoes and outlandish clothing for himself, wife and
Ms Alaska while we poor folks shop used clothing stores.
Transponders for the McCain mansion whilst shutting
off our life warning weather analog TV and giving us no
access to the new digital signals; nor did he show any
compassion for us that the 2-17-09 action which places
thousands of Americans in imminent danger from flash
floods, a bill which he sponsored will live as the day in
infamy when the government sworn to protect us turned
against us. What is wrong with freedom of choice?

Obama inspired people, plain and simple. You can call it brainwashing, but it is that cynicism that has repulsed so many for so long. This country needed a leader and it has been without one for a long long time. McCain lost because Obama beat him. Obama earned the votes of 65,000,000 people, which is 8,000,000 more than McCain. Obama was the superior leader in the race and that's why he won. McCain looked like a follower, and a confused follower at that.

The five reasons that McCain lost are attributable to one thing: John McCain's spineless pandering to the Republican Right.

McCain never took charge: he changed long-held positions; he never dealt successfully with the Bush legacy; he chose an unqualified hard right idealogue as his running mate. Every one of these actions was made to appease the extreme right wing fanatics in his party.

McCain was spineless as a candidate- it was clear he would have been spineless as a President.

Much has been made about the 'perfect storm' that hit John McCain, with the full force of the storm being the economy. While the economy tanked, I think it exposed the weaknesses of the McCain/Palin ticket rather than causing it to fail. If John McCain and Sarah Palin were going to be the team to lead us into the future, then their handling of the economic meltdown did not inspire confidence in their ability to do so. So I don't think it's fair to say that the economy tanking is what sank them, but rather their inability to navigate and lead us through that crisis is what ultimately did.

I agree that the 5 reasons you listed were significant factors, but I would add one more.

Independents, Hillary Democrats, and Latin-American Voters

McCain needed to get as many votes as possible from these groups. Based on his Senate record he could have done so. Voters from these groups helped John McCain get the nomination. But the right-wing ultra-conservative tenor of his campaign, including the choice of Sarah Palin as his running mate, caused these groups to vote for Obama in the general election.

McCain did not need to "energize" the right-wing base of the Republican party. Each vote that he would have lost from that side of his party would not have been cast for his opponent... causing a net loss of 1 vote. Each vote that he lost from the three groups mentioned did get cast for his opponent... a net loss of 2 votes.

By the time the campaign ended, John McCain appeared to be a puppet whose strings were pulled by the right wing of his party... instead of a strong leader who was capable of taking the Republican Party where it still needs to go... towards the center.

I was a John McCain fan until the changes you noted in your article. For the first time in a long time I was initially heartened to think there would be a Republican candidate I could seriously consider voting for, and as a moderate I looked forward to challenging campaigns from both parties. Many, many mistakes were made in McCain's campaign and I don't blame him for all of them: his campaign managers should be banished forever. I would love to see the Old McCain (no pun intended) return to the Hill.

Americans are smart, and I feel it is insulting to say that we can be bought. The economy and the five reasons listed are why we now have president-elect Barack Obama.

It is sad to see Republican base is clinging to the 40's and 50's so called family values a time were "Make Room for Daddy", "Leave it to Beaver", and "Happy Days" shows that epitomized America. From the beginning the McCain-Palin ticket did not reflect today’s "true" America a rainbow of people, religions and ideas. I want a government that represents not only my family who are Christians, but also my neighbors who may not be. This is what makes America so great.

I believe that finally, the American people saw through the disguise.
The RNC has campaigned as the "family values, fiscally responsible, christian" party. It has, when the facts are investigated, revealed itself as none of these. So what is left? That is what the voterts asked, and got no answer.

After invading a soverign nation unprovked, spent more money that any administration in history regardless of how you measure it, getting linked to systematic corruption and allowing the energy industry to determine foreign and energy policies, the mask came off.
Now we see what is undertneath. Karl Rove and his ilk were able to put lipstick on the village idiot and got him elected, all the while convincing the least educated of the nation that we must fear anything they claim as an enemy.

As a lifelong republican, I now see that it is up to folks like myself to reclaim the party, get it out of the greedy, corrupt lying hands that have polluted it.

Its time to place the blame squarely where it belongs, on us that have turned the party over to those who would build their own power at any cost.

We must work together if we are to rebuild what is left after the Bush disaster, not just of the country but the republican party. John McCain was not able to convince anyone that he is capable of this feat.

Tom S

Obama could of been defeated if Mccain had made a big thing out of Mr wright. Why --- not sure- this was a deal braker for most americans that was not looked at for very long. Obama should have quite wright then. But he got a pass.

Bush lost me at WMD. I could never believe him because I believed he led us into a disastrous "Christian Army occupying a Muslim Country" War on untruths.
No Al Quaida in Iraq, Saddam's bluff on WMD, poorly vetted intelligence, revenge for
Saddam trying to kill HW Bush and the treatment of Powell at the UN were too much for me. So when I saw and heard McCain, I just wanted another administration besides Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, Condi and W. So McCain could never disassociate himself from his GOP roots.

McCain/Palin (Failing) lost because at last the people eligible to vote, registered and voted.

They finally woke up from the long nightmare of the Bush presidency and then did something they might not have ever done before, THEY VOTED.

@Amos: Whether or not Obama bought the election with an economic advantage he worked hard to obtain or with high-limit credit cards he doesn't intent to pay back (fictitious), he still bought the election. Also, There are so many programs for those who are lower income to pull themselves out of such a situation that it would sicken you to know how much money we pour into any single one of them. Finally, research basic economics: The national deficit doesn't exist, and the bailout wasn't necessarily a bad idea.

@Ray Springer: Agreed.

@Tao: I appreciate intelligence as much as anyone else; However I also appreciate the intricacies of something as simple as an atom and understand there might be something greater than myself.

@John Stannard: While I agree with you, I do not believe a candidate whose only qualifying trait is deeper pockets deserves to win.

@Aaron Lindahl: I intended to be neither negative nor insulting, and I apologize if I came off that way - especially hypocritical. Please understand that when a liberal voices his opinion, it is generally understood that he's exercising the first amendment; When a conservative voices his opinion, however, it is considered hypocritical or insulting. I have an opinion and so do you. Thankfully we live in an awesome country wherein we are both free to voice such opinions.

@wm: I can't comment on the 2-17-09 action you cited, because I'm admittedly unfamiliar with it. What I can say is that Obama's clothing bill was never released.

@Dave: Entirely agreed, Obama is an excellent speaker, and very persuasive with words. This makes him an excellent used car salesman, though, not a great leader.

@rob chapman: While McCain may have changed long-term positions, Obama was (for lack of a better term) wishy-washy. He is basically a president-for-hire, created to please and appease.

@yee-haw: Reluctantly agreed. They didn't exactly get a chance to turn the economy around, though. Neither did Obama. To the best of my knowledge, both parties only had plans. I assume you mean their inability to convince the American people of their competency to complete such a task.

@Israel "izzy" Cohen: I disagree that values should be compromised to win an election. I personally would rather lose a promotion at work forty times over than to do something unethical. I don't believe the GOP needs to move toward the "center" to please the people.

@Joe DiDomenico: Some mistakes, some deliberate sabatoges.

@Tami Cormier: I agree that we should accept and ultimately LOVE those who hold different values than we do (I do NOT believe in religious extremism). That being said, this country (and its constitution) was founded by men who believed in positive family values.

@tom Schneider: Whereas Bush may or may not have been the "village idiot" put into office solely for the propaganda of others, Obama is a trojan horse build and created to look and sound as sweet as candy.

Well Ezriela....IP likes articles that get people to participate .... I guess you opened Pandora's Box and the pent up emotion fromt he last years and months has exploded! Good job!

"......Whoever the 2012 Republican candidate for President will be ought to make sure that his running mate at least knows the difference between a country and a continent........"

It is absolutely mind boggling how can americans vote for a Head / Governor of a US State, that lacks basic knowledge of geography

One wonders if this is more a reflection of the populace then of Sarah Palin???????