Here's the endorsement from another very conservative part of Texas, Bryan-College Station, home to Texas A&M University and the George Bush Library: http://www.theeagle.com/editorial/101908-President

I nearly fell out of my chair when I read it!

Yeah, you're right: content matters -- especially this year. Americans are anxious and they're paying attention. It's not like 2000, when we were enjoying peace and prosperity, and could be distracted with the typical Rovian bullshit.

I felt a little sorry for McCain during the primaries. It's cruel irony for McCain that the only chance his party had was to nominate a centrist. But in order to win the nomination, McCain had to throw off his more moderate positions in order to satisfy a base that tolerates no deviation from party orthodoxy. He had to make Iraq a major focus of his campaign, and his position favoring an open-ended commitment isn't what most Americans are looking for. And he had to make himself more socially conservative, which alienates many moderate voters. Also, too (heh!), he never did have much to offer on economic or fiscal policy that would attract voters looking for relief from specific economic anxieties -- job growth and security, retirement security, protection from rising costs of health care (and everything else), etc. Really, until the credit market freeze and Wall Street meltdown, McCain and Republicans were loathe to even admit that there was any real cause for Americans to feel economic anxiety (we're just a nation of whiners, doncha know?).

He was screwed going into the general election. McCain missed his only real chance in 2000 -- the crazy base is in control now, and he's running for President at a time when his party is in a shambles. He'll pay for his win-at-any-cost ambition for this office, too. His party needs to die (and rebuild), and in its ugly demise, it's taking his cherished good reputation and cross-party goodwill along with it.