McCain is Mondale-Dole

I had been thinking this for a while, and the tonight's election results have proven it: John McCain is a combination, a pastiche, if you will, of Walter Mondale and Bob Dole.

Think about it. An aging, disabled war veteran and Senate elder statesman, running against a skilled and charismatic communicator, and countering faltering polls through energy and hard work.

I will let everyone else talk about the historic significance of the first black president, about how the economy was what won it for him, about how he was able to energize a previously under-active electorate, how this signals a change in the attitude of the nation and the revitalization of the Democratic party. I will allow others to express relief that this election was decided so early in the night and with so little controversy. I will even expect other people to point out how in even larger presidential victories you did not see such spontaneous expressions of joy as we did in Chicago and New York. I will just point out that as different as things may be, we can always see a paralell in the past.