Digby goes to the logical endpoint of the Barry’s not up by 20, he must be losing meme.
McCain as comeback kid?
This would be a thrilling storyline for the media. Their favorite maverick was defeated in 2000, was the front runner for the ’08 nomination, but went down in flames last summer. Then, like Jimmy Stewart in Flight of the Phoenix, the scrappy flyboy rebuilt his rickety campaign and came back to win the nomination against far better financed opponents. Then he faced down the Obama juggernaut and was given up by everyone as a hopeless cause — no way, no how, could this tired veteran compete against the young genius and his hordes of cheering followers. And waddaya know? The grizzled old warrior’s still got it. Wouldn’t it be something if he pulled it out?
I don’t know if it will catch on, but it seems tailor made for the media, hungry to advance a feel good story about a favorite village elder overcoming adversity and never giving up even when everybody says his best days are behind him. They can bring up his POW experience with vomitous frequency and talk about guts and glory for days.
McCain as underdog versus the “inevitability” candidate Obama? The Village will be all over it for the next three months. Obama is losing no matter how far ahead he is, because McCain is clearly the scrappy, vibrant, energetic outsider in this race.
