How would McCain have governed?

[Lancet71]

Honestly I think his presidency would have been similiar to Obama's. Only a fool would think that any person could have pulled us out of the hole that Bush dug for us. His biggest mistake was taking an idiot on as a vice candidate, without even knowing her stance or who she was.

[whoisjongalt]

I agree with an earlier post. Things wouldn't be much different, with the exception of Obamacare. McCain would have been fairly moderate a la Gerald Ford or George Bush Senior. It's interesting to theorize but, frankly, I don't think Jesus himself could have won on the Republican ticket after W. Conversely, a trained seal would have won on the Dems ticket.

[70Ford]

Originally Posted by hammertime33

We'd probably be in the midst of a depression.

yep.

[mistygrl092]

Not good. I live in his state and this state is a mess. I am not impressed with him. He USED to have a rep as a maverick but no more. Plus he did say he didn't care if we were in Iraq for 100 years - definitely not good. And the horrors of imagining Sarah Palin as president if he keeled over due to his age would leave me always nervous.

[PCincorrect]

How would McCain have governed?

I think he would have caved to the people more so than Barry. We don't need a president with an agenda we need a president who is willing to put the people over his own beliefs. Any POTUS who pushes a personal agenda is just shy of a dictator. (Executive orders???)

[GregW]

Poorly or not at all as the strain overcame his health.

[ReturningWest]

Originally Posted by GreenGene

How would McCain have governed?

Poorly ... in much the same way as he selected a running mate.

Yes

Originally Posted by Memphis1979

The only reason I didn't vote for John McCain during the 08' was because he turned his back on everything he stood for. Abortion, gay rights, warrantless wire taps, storing nuclear waste, the Bush era tax cuts, He was for a balanced budget, he no longer supported the estate tax, etc.

The list goes on and on.

The John McCain that ran in 2008 was not the same man that ran in 2000.

John McCain -- 61 Flip-Flops and Counting | Election 2008 | AlterNet

As far as "how would he rule" who the hell knows, he changed his mind so much he was a bigger long shot than Barrack Obama

Yessss

Originally Posted by Fiddlehead

I think I agree. As a moderate, I liked McCain, and I thought he had broad-based respect. After the dirty deals laid on him by Rove and Co. in 2000, I was very saddened to see him grovel before before the far right to get his last chance at the Presidency. The truth is, most Americans want a President with an independent personality that transends partisanship. He had that for years, but then seemed to lose it toward the end. Palin was a boneheaded gift to the far right that destroyed his crossover appeal.

Yup

Originally Posted by Jill61

I think he would have been pathetically ineffectual.

During the campaign he had to have Joe Lieberman on hand to whisper in his ear to correct his facts.

He couldn't even articulate his own position on some issues. He admitted his lack of understanding of the economy: "I'm going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated." "The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should."

As well as this from the GOP debate, Nov. 28, 2007, "I might have to rely on a vice president that I select for expertise on economic issues," and then he picked Sarah "You Betcha" Palin.

The fact that he is ignorant of how the federal government even works, in spite of his years of working in it. "The chairman of the SEC serves at the appointment of the president and, in my view, has betrayed the public's trust. If I were president today, I would fire him." Except that as a commissioner of an independent regulatory commission, the SEC chairman cannot be removed by the president.

I know then-candidate Obama made a few eye-rolling gaffes, but no honest listener could really believe that Barack Obama thinks there are 57 states. John McCain, on the other hand, had a true lack of knowledge in what I considered to be critical areas that caused me to believe a McCain presidency in 2008 would have been an utter disaster, especially given the state of the nation at the time he would have taken the helm.

Plus, Sarah Palin.

And again yup

In years past I always had a certain respect for him and did consider him in '00 and again in '08. But he flipped on some very important issues from my stand point and lost a lot of credibility (see above). The two last straws for me were his choice of running mate (a stunt - nothing more) and how he handled or actually didn't handle the economic meltdown while campaigning - anyone remember "I'm gonna suspend my campaign" like he was going to Washington to "fix everything" We at least needed someone who could pretend to multi-task. McCain's ship had sailed, I think he wanted the Pez too bad and compromized a lifetimes worth of stances and beliefs trying to get the brass ring and it showed.

I think our country would have been in more of a mess with McCain, he readly admits a lack of understand in the economic area, he would have had a vocal, abrasive and uncontrolable VP. And watching him in the last campaign it was apparent that he was not the man he once was. While I'm not please with the current Prez I think he was the lesser of two evils rather than the "best candidate".