Time, today, paints a dismal portrait of McCain's race in Florida, the same state that arguably won him the primaries.
Time totally agrees with us that McCain should have picked Gov. Crist, or at least acted more like him. The magazine figures that when the Florida GOP cast its primary ballot, it was for someone more moderate and less divisive. Floridians are sick to death of partisanship, and apparently we didn't like it when McCain and Palin took the Straight Talk Express for a sharp right turn with William Ayers, Acorn, and decency dragging from the bumper.
It's not so much that McCain didn't tap Crist for his ticket; rather, it's the widespread feeling that McCain hasn't tapped into the more civil, issues-driven political style most Floridians have embraced since Crist was elected in 2006.
Even the official newspaper of the world's capitol of old, white, rich, Republican retirees, Naples, endorsed Obama yesterday. If you're a Republican who can't win over enthusiasm on the Gulf Coast of Florida, you're doing something wrong.
To make matters worse, McCain's ground game here is in teeny, tiny tatters.
By most accounts, McCain's national campaign staff has done a dismal job coordinating with the usually potent GOP machine on the ground in Florida. "This is a Florida campaign being run out of Washington," says a concerned GOP official in Tallahassee, "and it's remarkable
Some one should tell RPOF chairman Jim Greer, who's been yammering at anyone who listens, that the GOP ground game is strong here, and that's how they'll win. Or actually, you know what, don't tell him. Just let him think that.
