McCain's run at the White House is all but finished and it's amazing he hasn't yet officially quit. Jay Carney offers up a reason for why McCain failed so badly: Iraq.

It's very simple: hitch your campaign wagon to a massively unpopular and emotional issue and you will suffer the consequences. End of story and end of campaign. McCain made a hugely stupid bet and predictably lost.

Yet, his demise was not solely due to embracing Bush's stance on Iraq. Another big factor was his willingness to trash that which made him very popular, his willingness to go against the grain, speak frankly, and be the so-called maverick. All of that was expeditiously locked away in the cellar in favor of stooping down to lick the feet of the religious right and one of the most inept and corrupt administrations in memory. The hypocrisy and the flip-flopping was unbearably stomach churning.

Yeah, I think that also had something to do with his abrupt tank job.