I believe the bigger factor was the engineered crash of our economy.

bullseye on July 17, 2009 at 8:35 PM

Me too. I guess that makes me some kind of conspiracy theorist.

Exit polls said 20% of Bush voters went for Obama. People can argue that Palin caused that but there’s no way to prove it. At any rate, it shouldn’t have happened and I put it squarely on the sloppy McCain campaign mgmt.

LankyLou on July 17, 2009 at 8:16 PM

I still think it’s the racial thing. People didn’t have any reason not to participate in the reckless orgy of voting for O and the Age of Aquarius or whatever. The sycophantic media saw to it that the information about who Obama really is stayed entirely under the radar.

In 2012, that will not be the case. But of course, 2009 is where we have the most influence – yes, right now. We can impact voting in Congress now, if only through delay of health care reform and cap-and-trade. This gives someone like SP some time to paint a picture for the just-plain-folks* and bring some sanity to Congress. Plus, the media can’t ignore her for long.

After the election when McCain didn’t immediately come to Palin’s defense and stop all the backstabing from his people, I lost all respect for the man.

Oh, I know!! Unbelievable. My jaw still drops when I recall how I waited and waited for him to defend her. As far as I’m concerned, it was highly dishonorable on his part.

Paraphrasing Reagan here. ” There are simple answers, they just aren’t easy answers” Sarah understands that, and that’s a threat to all the gvmnt technocratic elite who assure us they know better and that we can’t get along without them.

Partisan on July 17, 2009 at 7:32 PM

I confess that since I’m not a politician myself, the prospect of all the work – the sheer effort she has to devote to this cause – is not a little daunting.

Jim Wrenn on July 18, 2009 at 12:09 PM

Very nice :-)

I hate to point this out. And I know I’ll have to duck for cover. But McCain/Palin pulled 3.2 million fewer votes than Bush/Cheney did in 2004.
….
guntotinglibertarian on July 17, 2009 at 8:07 PM

And you blame this on the person at the bottom of the ticket?

“Is Sarah PalinAre ineffectual idiotic ‘GOP insiders’ really the face we want to project to the American people? Jeez, where do we find these people?”

Edited to bring it closer to the truth.

“Patrick Ishmael made the case a few days ago for unleashing her as a force in the congressional races and I honestly can’t see how anyone would disagree.”

.
I agree with Allah except that I think she needs to start “campaigning” for candidates and making appearances designed to intimidate BlueDogs NOW, not next year.
.
Here’s my analogy:
.
We’re passengers in a plane one-quarter of the way en route from HopeAndChangeNov2008 to HopeForChangeNov2012.
.
The pilot is Captain PelosiReid.
.
The co-pilot is BlueDog.
.
The navigator is BoehnerMcConnell.
.
The plane has been losing fuel and altitude at an alarming rate.
.
Obama is the Air Controller.
.
Controller Obama orders PelosiReid to continue to the scheduled destination.
.
Captain PelosiReid agree.
.
Navigator BoehnerMcConnell says we’ll crash and burn unless we divert to MarketForce2009 now.
.
Navigator BoehnerMcConnell tells Co-Pilot Blue Dog he must seize control from Pilot PelosiReid.
.
Co-Pilot Blue Dog, fearing being stripped of seniority by Captain PelosiReid, says he thinks we can make it to WaitSee2010.
.
Stewardess Palin, who had been serving hors d’oeuvres, overhears the cockpit discussion.
.
Stewardess Palin confides to other flight attendants that she thinks Navigator BoehnerMcConnell is right and that the flight attendants should urge Co-Pilot BlueDog to take over.
.
All other flight attendants (even those who agree with Navigator BoehnerMcConnell) tell Stewardess Palin she must stick to her job serving hors d’oeuvres to the passengers.
.
Stewardess Palin, whose expertise on energy sources and consumption vastly exceeds that of the other flight attendants, says to them, “We can’t continue on course to HopeForChangeNov2012 because we will have crashed and burned long before we get there. We must divert to MarketForce2009 now, so we must convince Co-Pilot BlueDog the consequences of trying to make it to WaitSee2010 will be far worse than being “stripped of seniority.”
.
All other flight attendants tell Stewardess Palin that as long as she wears the uniform, she must continue serving hors d’oeuvres.
.
Stewardess Palin says, “I quit” and changes from her uniform into ordinary attire.
.
Passenger Palin enters the cockpit.
.
Gaining the attention of the Co-Pilot, Passenger Palin uses her vastly superior knowledge on energy sources and consumption to impart to the Co-Pilot an understanding of reality sufficient to make the hair stand up on the back of his neck about the danger of trying to make it to WaitSee2010.
.
Co-Pilot Bluedog decides his fear of crashing and burning in trying to make it to WaitSee2010 is greater than his fear of being stripped of seniority, so he decides to use the threat of seizing control to force Captain PelosiReid to avoid overflying MarketForce2009.
.
All of this has little to do with who should be Captain in 2012, because if we don’t divert to MarketForce2009, our plane will have crashed and burned long before 2012.
.
Palin seems to understand this while so many of the other flight attendants and passengers are too oblivious to the danger and too focused on how to get a new Captain in 2012.
.
Frontier women understand aspects of reality that elude fops from “back East.”

I hate to point this out. And I know I’ll have to duck for cover. But McCain/Palin pulled 3.2 million fewer votes than Bush/Cheney did in 2004.

-guntotinglibertarian

What isn’t mentioned here is that 8 million McCain voters were Democrats that were partial to Clinton. And 10 million Republicans that voted in the primaries did not vote in the GE. So even with a 16 million vote swing toward the GOP minus 10 million should have still guaranteed a win. But the base DID stay home. I’m not sure how many non-primary voters stayed home this year on top of all this, but it looks like it was significant.

I don’t think you realize just how big of a deficit the GOP really had at the end, all of their own making, and the chances it had to win it before the economic “crisis” when McCain was in the lead.

Palin revived a campaign that had died for the second time. That’s too much for any politician. And yet, she almost pulled it off in a year where Dems believed they were all but guaranteed a win.

If you don’t believe that Palin can be elected POTUS in 2012 after what we’re seeing from Ogabe every day, you’re the one who needs some oxygen!
Jenfidel on July 17, 2009 at 7:37 PM

It’s the white female vote that will not allow her a presidency.

elderberry on July 18, 2009 at 10:41 AM

The white female vote has be lied to and emotionaly manipulated by the lamestream media about everything. The lamestream media and their democrat allies have no clothes. Reality is rapidly intruding upon their utopian vision for America. Voters of all types are eventually going to realize the utopia is not possible and those that promise it in excange for our liberty are liars.

In a little over a week she becomes a private citizen and can do or say anything she wants just short of libel or slander.
Should be fun to watch.
LankyLou on July 17, 2009 at 7:37 PM

Yes. Fireworks. Start the music

Except unlike Sarah Palin, Ron Paul never bailed out of an elected office job because he couldn’t handle all the ethics violations investigations.
keep the change on July 17, 2009 at 6:53 PM

Dense comment. How many ethics charges were leveled against Ron Paul, exactly? And how much of his own money would he have had to spend on them? And, how long would it have continued to hamstring his ability to effectively serve?
Support your candidate in any way you choose, but try to see that each persons circumstance is different.

The GOP will do what the DNC did with Obama.
They’ll go with a winner, period.
I think a lot of people are over thinking this whole thing.
Her popularity hasn’t taken a huge hit, because people are curious about her. So when she shows up, the crowds will be huge, the money will flow, and the GOP will follow the money.
If she’s successful at getting her people elected she’ll be pushed pulled and dragged to run in ‘12. If she wants to, it’s hers.
The question is, what does she wanna do?
B Man on July 17, 2009 at 8:13 PM

This is spot on. I’ve said before; whoever picks up the mantle of core conservatism, (Strong defense, American exceptionalism, Smaller government,) will energize the base, and the so-callled “insiders” and party leaders will bet a winning horse every time.

Yeah, and the lack of Rove’s ground game. Look at the fools who were “running” the McCain campaign.
ddrintn on July 17, 2009 at 10:47 PM

Yes, and Obama had Axelrod, Emmanuel, the entire Clinton machine (after Hillary was dispatched.) Sadly, McCain/Palin were out-matched in the strategic arena.

Long enough to look around and see that none of their more moderate, less controversial darlings would generate enough excitement to draw a crowd large enough to fill a phone booth.
ddrintn on July 18, 2009 at 1:50 AM

Moderate is often a synonym for boring. Extremists take sides, and argue passionately for them. Who wants to go see a speaker who doesn’t bring the heat?

If you don’t believe that Palin can be elected POTUS in 2012 after what we’re seeing from Ogabe every day, you’re the one who needs some oxygen!
Jenfidel on July 17, 2009 at 7:37 PM

It’s the white female vote that will not allow her a presidency.

No way.

GOP “insiders”: Palin will be a campaign asset next year

I said this right here the day after she resigned.

Hey, maybe I should be a blogger!

Palin will be a campaign asset? What the hell took them so long to figure that one out?

Doughboy on July 17, 2009 at 6:13 PM

Long enough to look around and see that none of their more moderate, less controversial darlings would generate enough excitement to draw a crowd large enough to fill a phone booth.

AP will be a ‘Cuda convert by 2010.

darwin on July 17, 2009 at 6:17 PM

It’s possible. But I wouldn’t bet on it.

Allahpundit on July 17, 2009 at 6:18 PM

I just don’t understand your attitude towards Sarah. She can do for the Republicans what Obama did for the Democrats. Maybe not in 2012, because she won’t be given the chance, but possibly 2016. How could you not like her? She’s one of us, and most of the Republicans in this Country have had it with all this elitist B.S. that comes out of Washington and the so called “powers that be”! Give her a chance for heaven’s sake!

Sarah “Goldwater II” Palin. I’ll stick by it until she proves otherwise.

Blacksmith on July 17, 2009 at 11:23 PM

You can apply that label to any potential GOP candidate until proven otherwise.

She will be an asset if she avoids stupid mistakes.

Speedwagon82 on July 17, 2009 at 8:21 PM

Stunned, stunned! by the sheer brilliance of this observation.

You should also have added:

She’ll be an asset if she doesn’t get hit by a bus, or struck by a meteor.

That being said, I am more than willing to give Sarah Palin much, much more than the benefit of the doubt.

Whoever the candidate is in 2012, I hope they have more sense than to trust the snakes in the McCain campaign.

My mom is one of those idiot “moderate” independents. She voted Ogabe. Regrets it now. I asked her, “so, why the hell did you do it?” She answered, “I just hate that Sarah Palin!”.

guntotinglibertarian on July 17, 2009 at 8:49 PM

Not sure where you live at. but the Palin bounce wher ei live was all for Palin. most people here voted for Palin not McCain. the funds that came into McCain’s campaign also shows that Palin woke up the base. Phones for helping the Mccain campaign started ringing off the hook once Palin was announced.

The interview with katy Palin had no say so in it. It was arranged by the McCain campaign not her yet another reason how McCain blew it. and no the Palin bounce was not over after the convention. In fact it was going higher after Palin’s speech. McCain lost the election with two things.

He promised to name names and fight and he did not

And He suspended his campaign to go back to DC instead of running away from DC

If not for Palin McCain would have lost 49 states. Yes he was that bad of a canidate. finally you might want to tell your motrher to vote on issues next time not personility. I bet she hated bush too.

I hate to point this out. And I know I’ll have to duck for cover. But McCain/Palin pulled 3.2 million fewer votes than Bush/Cheney did in 2004.

Any chance this had something to do with the top of the ticket?

Partisan on July 17, 2009 at 8:21 PM

All you have to do is look at the turnout for McCain’s campaign events versus those for Palin. There was an enormous disparity. McCain had very soft support. He won the primary because Huck stole votes from Mitt.

Never before has the bottom of the ticket so out shined the top like in 2008. If it wasn’t for Palin it would have been an even bigger blowout.

I hate to point this out. And I know I’ll have to duck for cover. But McCain/Palin pulled 3.2 million fewer votes than Bush/Cheney did in 2004.

Any chance this had something to do with the top of the ticket?

Partisan on July 17, 2009 at 8:21 PM

Yeah, and the lack of Rove’s ground game. Look at the fools who were “running” the McCain campaign.