McCain, GOP face uphill battle

The comeback kid
With no vice president in the running and no obvious heir to Bush, McCain seemed the closest thing to the next in line for the nomination in a party that has a long history of giving the nod to the Republican whose turn is up.

When he started his campaign, he melded veterans of Bush's back-to-back successful elections with his own longtime loyalists to build a behemoth national campaign. He courted the party establishment he had a long record of spurning, and there was an all-aboard feel as the McCain train started out of the station in late 2006.

But he ended up squandering any advantage he had then early on. Political, financial and organizational turmoil rocked the campaign over the next six months and left it in tatters.

Nevertheless, he pressed on. He argued that the field was so flawed that he had as good a chance as any to emerge the nominee.

In the end, he persevered and came back from the brink of political death against all odds.

He hopes he can defy them again in the fall.

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