I’d been compiling notes for a post on why (I believe) John McCain lost the presidential election.

I’ll make one brief observation before getting to the meat of this post. As I review my own notes, past posts and consider other people’s opinions, I’ll just say, given all Obama’s advantages and McCain’s mistakes, I’m amazed the election was as close as it was.

Anyway, this morning, Glenn linked Ann Althouse’s piece How McCain lost me where she basically assembles her posts offered during the course of the election and concludes with some commentary. I highly recommend it. I think she’s a little harsh in her fourth point (at the end), but, hey, that’s her opinion.

I do, however, share her view on points one (“He did not understand economics, the most important issue”) and three (“He never defined himself as a principled conservative”). They basically correspond to conclusions I have reached. Read the whole thing!