SPC
Member
- Joined
- Jun 25, 2011
- Messages
- 215
- Reaction score
- 46
- Location
- Missouri
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Very Conservative
Actually a far larger case could be made that Palin kept the 2008 election from being a landslide instead of just a solid loss. In the wake of her announcement McCain had his first rise above Obama in the polls in month, helped make the RNC far more helpful to their ticket than the DNC was to Obama's, significantly increased cash donations into the campaign, invigorated an apathetic base that may not have turned out in decent numbers, and generally did not begin to truly get the staggeringly bad numbers with "independents" close to teh end and after the election at a time when McCain was also polling poorly with independents and Obama had been polling AMAZINGLY well with them from the start.
McCain and his horrible campaign strategy hurt the GOP in 2008, not Palin.
Besides that, I think McCain would have had a fighting chance if he had not muzzled Palin from tearing into Obama during the election because he didn't want to come out looking like a racist. If she were to get the nomination, she wouldn't have McCain holding her back this time.