The most obvious answer is the crowds she drew. Venues had to be changed to accomodate thousands of supporters who tried for free tickets for events that were originally scheduled to be held for hundreds. People took off work to go and see/hear her. She was wonderfully received every place she went. Tell me would Romney, Ridge or Pawlenty packed stadiums?
When Gov. Palin had the crowds she kept true to her pro-life; pro-gun; pro-drilling stands. She spoke as a true conservative to thousands!!! No wishy washy RINO she is a true Reagan Republican...and her ideas were well received!!!
Would either of those three - mentioned prior had garnered the campaign donation spike that Palin caused? What was it? 6mil in the first 48 hours of her being on the ticket...would anyone else have caused that outpouring of funds?
However, even with Palin on the ticket, approximately 7 million conservatives still stayed home compared to 2004. It's possible, some of them were Mormons or just "too principled" to vote for moderate McCain. It's possible Romney may have brought in more indies or moderates with his economic background to make up for this deficit. Nobody knows what might have been and it doesn't really help us to speculate.
What we do know is that Mitt had days when he collected more than 6 million dollars in one day during his campaign and he could have done so again.
Romney and Palin were my top two choices for VP, but most likely neither of them could have salvaged the sinking USS McCain alone, given the circumstances.
One thing is for sure, however, Romney/Palin would have had a better chance of distancing themselves from the "more of the same" stigma Obama so successfully pinned on Washington-insider McCain. They would have had a better shot at winning, but any GOP ticket would have faced terrible odds this year.
Drawing crowds, in and of itself, while impressive, doesn't do much for the conservative cause. Drawing crowds and ispiring the people to work for conservative causes, that would be accomplishing something. I don't see any evidence that she did this.
Her popularity appears to be more of a personality cult.
When Gov. Palin had the crowds she kept true to her pro-life; pro-gun; pro-drilling stands.
99% of the people in those crowds were already pro-gun, pro-life and pro-drilling. The crowds she draws prove nothing more than she's very good at preaching to the converted.
It doesn't take much, especially if you're from a place like Alaska, to say you're pro-life, pro-gun and pro-drilling. Furthermore, merely saying the right things on these issues, which is all she's done, doesn't accomplish anything.
She spoke as a true conservative to thousands!!! No wishy washy RINO she is a true Reagan Republican
She's shown herself to be a true conservative on exactly three issues. There's a lot more to being conservative.
Furthermore, she's revealed herself to be somewhat left of center on other important issues, such as immigration and fiscal policy.
...and her ideas were well received!!!
What ideas?
Talking points on exactly three issues aren't ideas.