John McCain, DOA in CA
By Ryan Serra

Half a league, half a league,  half a league onward, all in the valley of death rode the six hundred. Forward the light brigade, or John McCain anyway. To the appall of millions and the relief of the rest, Arizona Senator John McCain bowed out of this year’s Republican presidential primary race on Wednesday March 1, following a merciless thrashing at the hand of GOP opponent Texas governor, George W. Bush.  After such a successful campaign preceding super Tuesday, this came as a shock to many, but in reality, did McCain really stand a chance against such a well entrenched enemy?

California, the brass ring of super Tuesday, implemented a limited open primary system this year allowing members of all political affiliations to vote for their favorite candidate, regardless of their party.  However, in an effort to thwart any potential left wing subterfuge, the California Republican convention elected only to count votes cast by those registered with their party. Some McCain supporters would argue this to be his undoing, claiming that this action robbed him of the vital independent and liberal support, which was so crucial in the previous victories. Still, the fact is that, even with the independent and liberal vote, McCain fell well short of Bush. It is more likely that the abundant political support McCain received from the liberals and conservatives was more of an attempt by local leftist saboteurs to sway the outcome of the election away from George W.

In the end, what it all balled down to was dollars and sense. Money, the incarnation of authority and the perfect tool for which to exercise one’s will over others, is the great equalizer in every contest of endurance. Much like the Japanese folly in the pacific, McCain’s limited resources could only carry him so far. With his limited resources, exhausted from the previous months, McCain could not hope to traverse a state that goes through campaign funds like an MSU alum through a book of food stamps. 

 California is the land of apathy, but no one really cares about that. What they do care about is: What have you done for me lately, and what are you going to do for me in the near future? Have I seen your face on TV in the last thirty seconds, and is your smear campaign scaring me more than your opponents’? Bush’s salvation was that his pockets were deeper than McCain’s.    He could shovel faster than his opponent, and consequently did a more thorough job convincing California republicans that McCain was the prince of darkness, and the root of all sin and evil, than McCain did of him.

People are sheep and will follow whomever’s face appeared on the last bill board they saw while driving along the expressway that day. Although he may beg to differ, the common man is less concerned with what a candidate says than how or how often he or she says it. Appearance is everything, and it doesn’t come cheap.  

 Ryan Serra is an LSA sophomore. He could be reached at rserra@umich.edu