Ironies Abound In This Remarkable Presidential Campaign

It seems difficult not to conclude that Sen. John McCain harbors no small amount of bitterness over recognizing that fate and time passed him by, at least in terms of ever being elected President. My own guess is that had he run in the 2000 general election as the Republican candidate against Al Gore he would have won (and not in the hanging chad have the election decided by five political appointees on the Supreme Court but straight out). Also, had he run as the Democratic candidate in the 2000 general election against George W. Bush, he would have won as well. Now in 2008 it appears to me that the utterly disastrous rule of the Bush Administration has compelled Sen. McCain to take measures, i.e., the bizarre selection of the stunningly unqualified and not ready for prime time Sarah Palin as his running mate, that were counter to his inclinations. I've read that he wanted to select Tom Ridge or Sen. Lieberman as his running mate but was talked out of it by, well, I'm not sure who but presumably Republican operatives. And so now Sen. McCain finds himself saddled with a near impossible situation and facing an opponent, Sen. Obama, for whom it appears the timing of fate has been perfect. This congruence of coincidence and compulsion has left Sen. McCain apparently seething and barely able to conduct himself in Sen. Obama's presence in a way that Sen. Obama deserves and, I say, Sen. McCain himself knows is proper. Another irony is that McCain probably would be in a better mood and would probably be running a campaign more in tune with his own history if his opponent were Hillary Clinton. A further irony would be that Hillary Clinton would probably have a massive lead over McCain already and the campaign would no longer be in doubt. Ironies abound in this unbelievable campaign taking place as the full weight of the years of Bush misrule become further manifest.