Especially In Florida, McCain Laments Picking Palin

With election day rapidly closing in, John McCain's chances of winning this race are quickly disappearing. There are only so many states in play and he needs to do is best to hold onto the red states of 2004 that are still in contention. While his running mate is clarifying her "pro-America" remarks (albeit badly) her VP opponent is Joe Biden is taking full advantage of the callous statement. McCain sat down with the St. Petersburg Times and they got a glimpse into what the former maverick thinks of how things turned out.

From The St. Petersburg Times:

MELBOURNE — Sen. John McCain acknowledged in an exclusive interview Friday that he probably would be better positioned in must-win Florida if he had picked Gov. Charlie Crist as his running mate.

The Republican presidential nominee expressed no regrets for choosing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and said Florida was sure to be a hard-fought state with almost any vice presidential pick — besides Crist.

"Charlie, because he's so popular, he probably would have made a significant difference,'' McCain said in an interview with the St. Petersburg Times and Bay News 9.

"I think this would have been a battleground state, except for obviously (with) a popular governor as Charlie Crist is,'' McCain said. "Look, this is a tough decision that we made with Sarah Palin. But I also saw Sarah Palin come down here and energize crowds in a way that's pretty remarkable, too."

Despite the upbeat statements about Palin, the negative ones say much more about what he is thinking. If Palin was all positive for the campaign, there would be no need to mention Charlie Crist or the fact that the Palin pick was a tough decision.

The real problem isn't skipping past Crist or picking Palin though. The core of the McCain campaign has been about playing by the rules of the 24hr news cycle and not having a consistent message. Palin was a one-hit wonder in late August, now she's the "Disasta from Alaska." McCain hammered Obama about experience all summer and taking the political neophyte from the north obliterated that talking point. Even in the debates the choppiness comes through. McCain always got in lots of little jabs, but Obama stuck to his message of change and hope versus a third term of George Bush. This article is just the latest reminder of a campaign on the ropes and clearly way off message.