Analysts: McCain doomed from start

PHOENIX, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain lost his bid for the White House mainly because anti-incumbent fury doomed him from the start, analysts say.

McCain made many missteps, but they didn't matter much because it was clear no Republican stood much of a chance in the 2008 election with voters overwhelmingly blaming President George Bush and the GOP for the nation's problems, The Arizona Republic reported Sunday.

McCain, who represents Arizona in the Senate, lost to Democratic opponent Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois last week in an electoral college landslide. He never stood a realistic chance, said Alberto Gutier, a longtime Phoenix Republican activist and McCain supporter.

"Everything was going to go the wrong way for the Republicans, in general, because of the negatives that President Bush had," he said. "When you combine the war, the economy, the gas prices -- it's a hell of a thing."

"Our polls and national polls showed that most people by a 2-to-1 margin blamed Bush and the Republicans more than the Democrats for getting us into the mess, and they believed that Obama was more likely to get us out of it," Bruce Merrill, a veteran Arizona pollster, told the Republic.