Picking Sarah Palin to be his running mate made me seriously question John McCain’s judgment. If he wanted to choose a female running mate, he could’ve found several women with better qualifications, but that’s not why he lost the election to Barack Obama. It was the economy and several mistakes he made including the following:

Phil Gramm. As a senior economic advisor to the McCain team, he caused a lot of damage when he said that the United States was in a phantom recession last summer. Tell that to all the people losing their homes to foreclosure.

Stating that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. This single statement made John McCain look like he was out of touch with people who work at places like Ford and General Motors and probably had a lot to do with his losing in places like Michigan and Ohio.

Suspending his campaign. This strategy really backfired for the Arizona senator. He looked like he couldn’t handle more than one task at a time and his leadership skills really came into question when the Republicans in the House voted against the bill he supported.

Joe the Plumber. Picking this guy to be the symbol advocating his tax plan over the Obama plan was not a good move. It was not long after mentioning this guy that we learned that Joe benefits more under the Obama tax plan. Joe the Plumber’s credibility also came into question when people learned that he was not a licensed plumber and his failure to show up at a scheduled campaign appearance didn’t help either.

Mistakes aside, John McCain is a great American who loves his country. Few people would’ve been capable of making the sacrifices he did for his country. Unfortunately, I believe that he had to move a lot further right to get a nomination from a party that is currently out of touch with most Americans. It’ll be interesting to see how he votes going forward in the Senate. Hopefully, he returns to being the guy known for reaching across the aisles and doing what is right for the country.

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