The second addition in what may be a relatively short series. Let’s jump right in though.
Republican Loss Myth #2 – “Sarah Palin was the reason Republicans lost the election.”
This is 100% myth.
Sarah Palin was introduced as John McCain’s running mate as a complete political outsider. Only people who were really paying attention to those holding offices knew who she was. For the public, she was an unknown. This stirred a lot of interest in the McCain campaign again and got them back in the spotlight. With everyone watching, Sarah Palin made a fantastic speech at the Republican Convention in Saint Paul, Minnesota. 37 million people tuned in to watch her acceptance speech at the convention. Joe Biden only received 24 million viewers, and Barack Obama had 38.1 million; for you Liberal Art Majors out there (oh come on, you know that was kind of funny).
There’s no doubt that Palin gave the McCain ticket a huge boost. People were excited and energized. But then what happened? It really doesn’t matter if you like Palin or not; the fact is that she did indeed bomb many interviews. Deny it all you want, but those interviews did not go they way that the McCain campaign wanted them too. In all honesty, it really doesn’t matter what exactly happened. Was she mishandled? Did she pass up interview preparations? I’d like to say that she was a little too ‘green’; she had not ripened yet in the political spotlight. That is of course my own opinion on the matter. Let’s not argue on what happened, let’s just realize and accept that it did happen. This started to draw away from the Palin hype that gave McCain a boost. I do believe though that most of the ‘Palin hate’ did indeed come from people who had already decided that they were voting for Obama. Couple this with the economy dying and you have the uphill battle that McCain tried to fight in the last few weeks of the election.
Overall, I do believe that Palin did help McCain get the amount of votes that he received nationally. I think the popular vote would have been less for McCain without Palin on the ticket. She did do more good than harm for the campaign, despite what other people want to say. The past is the past though, and we must now look towards the future. This should indeed be a lesson for all political tickets in the future, especially Republican tickets.
On a side note, this is in no way, shape, or form an endorsement for Palin in 2012. I’ve seen a lot of buzz about that in the last few weeks. I think we should all wait and see what happens in the next four years before we decide who we’re going to support. Unfortunately, I do not listen to my own advice.
Last 5 posts by James Clarkson
- A Few (New?) Thoughts - March 31st, 2009
- How to not be 'closed-minded' - December 31st, 2008
- Republican Loss Myth #1 - November 6th, 2008
- Young Voter Turnout in Colorado - November 4th, 2008
- Going Forward Post-Election In 2008 - November 3rd, 2008
I think the problem with Palin was not that she was Palin, but she became too much like McCain.
She was also an easy target for dim witted female front runners who love to criticize others until they think their thighs are thinner.
I cringed every time I had to listen to her take up for one of McCain’s big government ideas. I wonder if she would say she would have voted for McCain or against Obama prior to her nomination.
I know five people, including myself, who were energized by the Palin candidacy. Two of the five were Hillary supporters, one was a moderate and two (myself included here) were conservatives who were lukewarm on McCain’s candidacy until Palin was named as his running mate.
As for who to support in the future, I think McCain’s choice of Palin as running mate will have a far more positive impact on that decision than it did on the campaign.
It’s important to watch Sarah Palin’s political development over the next four years as she hones her skills on a national level and creates the associations that she needs to enhance her resume. She has already demonstrated tremendous leadership abilities as exemplified not only by her record as governor of Alaska, but in the way she handled the unfair and overwhelming drubbing she’s taken from the media and popular culture.
This alone leads me to believe that she is the future of our party. But rather than pontificate here, let me once again simply encourage everyone to watch her, study her and draw a conclusion as it relates to the need for freshness and youth in a party whose ideals still remain strong and right but whose leadership has grown as stale as George W. Bush.
That a fundietard like Palin could get that close to the presidency is a frightening thought for many normal Americans who do not live in a world with a medieval mindset! Unless the GOP dumps the ‘religious’ right they are doomed to stay in the minority for decades! Sane conservatives and libertarians, take your party back!