McCain's Slim Chances Dwindle Further

Pitiful second-quarter fundraising foretells financing troubles that will likely put the Republican nomination beyond John McCain's grasp, and grave strategic errors have cut the senator off from voters who once appeared to be his natural base. The New Republic’s John B. Judis looks at a onetime maverick frontrunner whose campaign seems to be running on fumes.

The trouble dates to 2000, Judis argues, when McCain laid claim to independents and moderates and George Bush kept to the right. This time around, "McCain would play himself and Bush," says Judis—but without the success. Even his nuanced stances on immigration and the Iraq war are working against him. As a result, McCain's campaign is "a shambles." (More Election 2008 stories.)