[Spera]

Everyone can flame away here, but unless Obama has a really lackluster first term, there is no way Palin would beat him. I love her and her values, but to many (republicans AND moderates) she comes across as a ditz - and this is not because they watch SNL or other mocking shows. They thought she did terribly in her interviews and weren’t really buying the big “Obama is a Socialist” one liners the last 2 weeks of the campaign. I have serious conservative friends who know McCain is a socialist as well because they are political junkies. I mean, we all know McCain is a socialist, and so it was kind of galling to hear Palin and McCain go after Obama on this point. My initial enthusiasm for Palin got dimmer and dimmer as time went on and I saw her exhibit little substance in discussions/interviews and then give these rousing speeches based on sound bites. I began to wonder what her point was... she was becoming the pitbull with lipstick that the left had mocked her about - always on the attack, but with little to say in person.

Honestly, I think we have to accept that while she energized the base for McCain, she didn’t get us any cross-over votes and also lost us some unknown quantity of votes from repubs who thought she lacked depth. I really believe she would get creamed in 2012 unless Obama really messes up.

If people want to argue that she fired up the base and unified us, why then are they also arguing that the base didn’t show up out of disgust? She didn’t lose McCain the presidency, but she wasn’t the huge draw that people are proclaiming she was. Basically, the already-converted social conservatives came out en masse to see her - not independents. And I know two repubs - one in MO (33 yrs old) and one in PA (55 yrs old)- who have always voted, who stayed home because Palin was a deal breaker for them. They thought it was the final nail in an ill-conceived, unfocused bid for the presidency by the Repub. party.

I really hope we have something better up our sleeve than Palin, and I say this after donating 3 times to the campaign after her nomination. In the end, I was disappointed by her.

[Just mythoughts]

Wasn't lord McCain suppose to draw any votes? Were where alll his good liberal moderate friends anyway. Without Sarah would he even have won AZ?

[beagleone]

I donated three times also.

She is not a ditz. She is very intelligent and has lots of something that few politicans have: Common sense. She was just not used to the exposure and overwhelmed at times, and her mannerisms come across as too folksy for a lot of people who consider themselves sophisticated.

The MSM took pains to make her look bad at every opportunity. I'll bet with the right editing and manipulation, you could come across as a blithering idiot also.

I take issue with your assertion that Obama and McCain are equally socialist. There is a difference between allowing for particular social-service government programs on a case-by-case basis into your governing ideology and worldview which is McCain, and believing in wealth redistribution as a religion, which is Obama.

If you don't see that, then you have never spent time in a socialist country before.

[beagleone]

BTW, your sign-up date puts you at risk for being outted as a troll.

Any Republican who would not come out to vote against an avowed socialist because their candidate picked a VP they didn't like is not much of a Republican.

Anyone who, god forbid, voted for or didn't bother to vote at all against Obama deserves what they are going to get. The rest of us are screwed anyway, but at least we don't deserve it.

[GretchenB]

You have it all wrong here - McCain was the one that was to get the democrats and independents. While I much preferred the other candidates, I voted for Mccain in the primary because I thought he was the only one that could beat the democrats. The only time I was for mccain was after he picked Sarah.
You talk about dunderheads - Bidden is the biggest disgrace - Sarah never stuck her foot in her mouth like Biden did and that jerk has been in the Senate forever.
I think Obama is a sleeper - (as in WWII) - change the country and change the world - and the Obama symbol - that also sounds familiar - we will see...