Posted on 01/20/2016 8:46:10 AM PST by Gandalf the Mauve
There was one race in which Palin appears not to have been much help -- and, in fact, hurt the candidate. According to a 2010 study from researchers at Stanford University, noted by Brendan Nyhan, Palin's presence on the 2008 Republican presidential ticket cost John McCain 1.6 percentage points. In an election in which 131 million people voted, that's 2.1 million votes that McCain should have gotten but didn't....
As the campaign progressed, fewer people said they didn't have an opinion on Palin. And as nearly all of those people formed an opinion on her, that opinion was a negative one. As the researchers put it, "Palin saw a sharp increase in negative evaluations as the fall campaign progressed. Looking at individual-level changes in favorability, we find that 34% of respondents downgraded their evaluations of Palin between September and Election Day, while just 12% became more favorable."...
We're looking at this now in light of Palin's endorsement of Donald Trump, of course, but it's important to set the context properly. We're not suggesting that this study means that Palin will have a deleterious effect on Trump in the primaries. On the contrary, Palin's endorsement likely helps solidify some support for Trump among conservative voters.
Instead, it's worth considering what happened with Palin in light of Trump's candidacy.
The study notes a 2008 Newsweek column which suggested that Palin "sent wavering Democrats, independents and moderate Republicans scurrying to Sen. Barack Obama."...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Donald J. Trump â€@realDonaldTrump 56m56 minutes ago
Great rally in Iowa! Such wonderful people. Traveling now with @SarahPalinUSA to Tulsa- massive crowd expected!
John McCain cost John McCain the election.
More than likely GAINED McCain 2 million votes. I remember the rally in the Dayton/Cincy area-—it was something like 18,000 people, while no one gave a crap about McCain before her.
Sez the WaPo...!
What a laugh..!
Before Sarah Palin’s Endorsement, Trump was a liberal.
After Sarah Palin’s Endorsement, Trump was still a liberal.
MeCain would have been embarrassed for life if not for Palin.
Wow, a “suggestion” from Newsweek. Is there still a print version of Newsweek?
I only voted for McCain because of Palin. Yup, she’s really stupid- able to give her acceptance speech from memory after the teleprompter “broke”.
No. Tina Fey did.
Palin was not ready for the national stage.
The convention was held very late that year, after Labor Day.
The MSM defined her for the LIVs and she was unable to recover from their efforts.
See? That was fast. They thought they could get Trump via palin. MSM at its best.
Well, this is timely news. I wonder why the author waited until now to share, rather than point it out shortly after McCain lost to the current occupant of the WH.
I didn’t lose respect for Palin until she ran away from her Governorship then banked in on her newfound popularity.
BS, I rhink mc stain cost palin 2MM votes.
So what?
McCain lost by 10 million votes.
BS
Only reason I vote was for Sarah
The first Bush was Reagans biggest mistake
That’s a difference without a difference.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.