I slightly disagree. Like Specter, McCain has went against his party several times. He is far from conservative.

McCain may only have been 14 more months of Bush and then 34 months of Palin.

No - he would have simply been four more years of mind numbing cluelessness. No two people are exactly alike but that doesn't mean they both can't have the same backward opinions. I wasn't planning on voting for him in the first place - but when he made the remarks about women and equal pay - as the daughter of a widowed mother who raised two kids on her own in the 60's-70's - I wouldn't have voted for him if he had descended to earth on a silver cloud from heaven above. It's freaking 2009 - way past time to take exception to the BS that has been rolling merrily down Mt. Olympus fresh from the commodes of graying old billionaires. Not to mention his proclivity to forever pander his war stories and accomplishments as a qualification for the job (making him as lame as John Kerry). You want a real war bud then have a sex change operation and join the unfair wage war my family and I have been fighting for generations.

I believe Bush will be vindicated.

McCain is an individual and deserves to be treated like one. Sure many of his policies would have been similar to that of Bush and other Republicans, but he would have been a better choice from that party than most. The McCain and Bush comparisons were relatively recent claims from Obama's party. It was a great tactic used by the Democrats, but I don't think it was as true as they had most Americans believing. I would have been pretty optimistic about a McCain Presidency, especially when compared to G.W.'s.

It may or may not be true but that was the perception. His own words came back to haunt him.

Only 90% true.

I think his apparent espousal of a hundred years occupation of Iraq might have convinced some he'd be even McWorse than Bush.

Too vague.  A touch simplistic.  'Ninety-percent' was a clever catchphrase, but McCain was never, ever the retarded JesusLand Warhawk-type(s) that polluted the small brain of dubs.  Having said that, McCain partying like it's 1964 with the ethos lower taxes will solve everything and Prince Dumbo really wants to convert your little children to yet another fictional religion didn't resonate much beyond the states with lower education levels.  No, McGrandpa wouldn't have been the same. . .but his age, ideas, and suggestions simply did not inspire confidence.  And he scared off centrist voters as McCain did start to sound like dubs as the campaign wore on (pro-life shite et.al.)

  Bush has been a very poor president, very unpopular (mostly becasue of a more partisan media than anyone before) , several scandals (some legitimate, some fabricated by a press in heat), two unpopular wars (mostly due to his own poor handling of both, at times) and one large unresolved war that everyone seems to have forgotten about.  He has had to face several disasters like 9/11/01, Katrina, Ike, the near-collapse of the banking industry (caused by his political enemies), the takeover by democrats of both houses of Congress, an inexplicable resurgence in anti-war protests and sentiment, oil market price disintermediation and an astronomical rise in domestic and military spending resulting in previously incredible record deficits. 

He has betrayed, on several occasions, his base of voters in efforts to ingratiate himself to his political opponents, who only hated him more vociferously and mockingly, even while he did for them what they could not do for themselves.  And they hate him all the more.    His popularity numbers plummet mostly because conservatives do not approve of the way he governs, they need not even ask the liberals.  He has won the war in Iraq and is given no credit for it, and McCain paid a huge price for it.  The war in Afghanistan rages on, growing more fierce each day, and we replace Bush with an ultra liberal who does not salute the flag during the National Anthem.  He is now your Commander-in-Chief.  He has stated he would prefer "I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing" to the "Star-Spangled Banner" as our National Anthem.  But, McCain was not acceptable.  Too much like Bush.  How could anybody be like Bush?  Why would they want to?

I believe that McCain would have been even more conciliatory to the left than was Bush- particularly in light of the fact that he would have been dealing with Dem majorities in both houses of Congress. That said, this message probably resonated more than any other from the Obama campaign.