Candidate John McCain seemed to have it all.

Few in America did not know about his decades of service, his breath-taking heroism as a war hero in Vietnam, his foreign policy expertise and his ability to reach across the Congressional aisle.

Mr McCain's opponent was largely untested, inexperienced and, initially at least, unknown; his race only added to his challenge.

If there is such a thing as a perfect political storm though, John McCain found himself caught in the middle of it. In a leaky boat. With limited fuel.

Hopes dashed

This was another aspect of the McCain strategy that seemed to backfire. Although Mr McCain ran only 10% more purely negative adverts than his rival, according to media monitoring groups, they were more deeply personal attacks - accusing Mr Obama of having a close relationship with a "domestic terrorist", for example.Such ads created a backlash from independent voters, according to the polls, and Mr McCain was forced to change his tone.

In fact, he could never quite find a narrative that worked. He went from being war hero, to the voice of experience, to maverick, to tax-cutter, but he never found a way to lift himself in the polls.His team hoped the three presidential debates would finally reveal their candidate to be best qualified for the job. But in the "town hall" setting Mr McCain favoured, he wandered around the stage and forgot that what may work in a real town hall doesn't necessarily work with a TV audience.In other debates he tried confronting Mr Obama, but was never able to shake the younger man's almost unnatural cool. At times, Mr McCain seemed to be trying to keep a simmering rage under control, which brought more negative coverage.

When the credit crisis erupted and the economy stalled, it seemed a damning indictment of an era of Republican deregulation and "trickle-down" economics.Mr McCain's past quotes about the fundamentals of the economy being strong came back to haunt him. His tax plan - which seemed to favour the wealthy - rang hollow with people facing foreclosure and job losses.His abrupt suspension of his campaign to return to Washington and "fix the problem" seemed erratic and was ultimately ineffectual.In the end, he projected an image as a man from America's past, who had been through much and served his country well.

But in a disgruntled nation, deeply disenchanted with Republicanism, he couldn't match the appeal of his younger opponent and his message of change.