Posted on 02/22/2009 9:52:31 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
...it was not intentional. In fact, quite the contrary. It happened when the press and networks covering the Democratic convention puffed up the likely defection of Hillary supporters -- inspiring McCain to name Palin as his running mate.
Barack Obama might very well have won anyway, by a very narrow margin, but I believe that the true turning point in the fall campaign -- though rarely noted -- actually came in late-summer, at the Democratic convention in Denver. No, it was not the general good vibes about Obama, the ringing speeches by Teddy, Michelle, Bill, and by the candidate himself.
Rather, it was the electronic media's overblown coverage of the allegedly widespread threat by female Hillary delegates, and other Clinton fans, to bolt Obama in favor of McCain.
As you recall, the dissidents, known as "PUMAS," got massive face time on TV and, it was said, they represented just the tip of the iceberg. And it was said (by commentators, not just by the new pro-Hillary media stars), that women, particularly older ones and suburban/blue-collar types who had voted for Hillary in the primaries, would likely abandon the Democrats in November.
There was no firm evidence for this, of course - and few pundits, on TV and in print, seemed to notice that the same few disgruntled Hillary delegates appeared on all of the shows. No matter. Obama's possible defeat because of the possible defections was widely predicted.
Why did this matter, since the mass defections never happened? Especially since here and elsewhere at liberal political blogs no one ever took the threats seriously?
Because John McCain and his people bought it, hook, line and sinker. This explains the sudden rise of Sarah Palin to the top of their VP list. They saw an opening - which really wasn't there - and went completely overboard. Not only did a female VP suddenly look like a great idea, but one who would have extra appeal to the particular type of Hillary primary voters so hyped by the media.
So the preposterous media coverage of the (few) unhappy Hillary-ites at the Dem convention - which was aimed not at helping Obama but maintaining interest in the affair and the coming campaign - inspired McCain to select as his running mate someone who would virtually destroy his campaign (as I make clear in my new book on the campaign, "Why Obama Won").
Recall that after months of trailing, McCain came out of his convention with a bump that led to at least a tie with Obama in the polls -- then he plummeted very quickly as the truth about Palin seeped out. A week after the GOP convention ended, polls were already showing (as many of us, if not most MSM pundits, had predicted) that, if anything, women thought LESS of Palin than did men.
Imagine if McCain had picked even a neutral figure such as a Pawlenty or, say, Kay Bailey Hutchison. Yes, Obama likely still would have won (he ran a fine campaign and the economy collapsed) -- but if he did, it would have been in a real nail biter. And Tina Fey would not have been named entertainer of the year, and we wouldn't have had that turkey slaughtering video to enjoy.
Palin responsible for Obama’s victory? Ha!
The only positive thing to emerge from the 2008 campaign was Sarah Palin. McCain was an awful candidate, Obama is a worse president than any could possibly imagine. Joe Biden makes the executive branch like a sick remake of Dumb and Dumber.
Anyone recall that the R’s had many open primaries that were kneecapped by Democrats?
Anyone recall that it was manipulation of the caucuses that gave Obama an insurmountable lead over Clinton?
Anyone recall that McCain & Huck ganged up on Romney whenever he got traction?
Anyone recall that Romney stepped aside graciously while Huck did not?
Would you rather have a successful businessman who actually has participated in the free market and knows how it works at the helm right now, or are you content with the guy who’s there right now, whose knowledge of the economy is limited to whatever magazines happen to be in the bathroom in the Oval Office.
But, but... Obama is a Harvard Law School graduate! As if they taught economics at the law school. Ronmey got his JD from Harvard and his MBA from Harvard at the same time. But, Obama is the brilliant one.
Don’t even get started with the MSM fawning over Obama - but you can enjoy your coffee with the news that the Philly Enquirer is bankrupt this morning.
I remeber thinking the same thing when I saw it.
This guy is so wrong.
The turning point came when Hank Paulson went to Capital Hill... and got down on his knees in front of Nancy Pelosi to beg for 700 billion dollars.
I voted for Palin; in spite of McCain.
And exactly what truth is that, you moron? I seem to remember that a hit squad of thirty Rat lawyers flew into Anchorage overnight after Palin's selection and began sifting through her dumpsters looking for garbage to throw at her. THEY FOUND NOTHING!
The only truth about Palin that seeped out was the false truth the Rats made up about her and the complicit media spread it around like manure.
Also, some 56 million people voted for the McCain-Palin ticket, while 62 million voted for Obama-Biden. It was much closer than the media wants people to believe, with the difference being ACORN fraud and Rat-controlled cities like Philly, Chicago, and New York, among others. How many of those 56 million people actually voted for Sarah Palin and NOT McCain, in spite of all the invective and ridicule hurled at her and her family?
The shame of it all...
Imagine if McCain had picked Joe Lieberman, which was also being reported at the time.
-PJ
I agree.
I don't think so. I've encountered a lot of these women and they all voted for Governor Palin. There just weren't enough of them to counter the ACORN fraud and the Black/big city Liberal vote for Obama. Remember, McCain/PALIN got over 56 million votes, which suggests that there was indeed a great deal of support from cross-over Democrats who could not stomach Obama.
Scape-goating the PUMAs accomplishes nothing. They were there, but not in the numbers we needed to overcome a very stupid, very gullible majority electorate who bought Obama's snake-oil way too eagerly.
Sarah Palin doomed the campaign? Sarah Palin killed the post-convention bump? Heh. Sarah Palin pretty much created the post-convention bump. John McCain got that bump because he picked an attractive, smart, engaging...and oh, yeah, conservative...running mate and Barack Obama picked a running mate who was none of those things. (Sorry, Joe. You’re just not.)
“They booted Hillary Clinton because she couldn’t beat McCain.”
I think they booted Hillary because they knew that 1) Bambi could serve two terms and Hillary can run in 2016 as a candidate with International experience and 2) when Bambi screws up the nation and becomes a 1 term President, Hillary can step in and the media can say “see, we told you Hillary was the better candidate.”
Hillary is running all over the world collecting campaign donations with no one to monitor what she is doing.
This isn't true. The Hillary voter isn't pro-life and that is a major issue with them. In fact its probably the biggest reason we didn't see the, flock to Palin in droves. Having said that, it was probably McCain's only or best option since conservatives were not going to vote for him. He needed a strong conservative on the ticket to get any traction at all.
A reminder of what Sarah Palin did for McCain, singlehandely, all on her own up until George Soros et al, in a state of sheer panic, collapsed the markets on 9-15-08.
September 08, 2008
Washington Post/ABCNews Poll: McCain Vaults From 19 Point Deficit in Battleground Midwest to Plus Seven Advantage
September 09, 2008
Gallup: McCain Now Preferred 52-37 by Independents Over Obama
September 10, 2008
FOX SHOCK: McCAIN GAINS 6, OVERTAKES OBAMA BY THREE
September 11, 2008
Democrat operatives filled with “angst” and “palpable frustration”
...stirring angst and second-guessing among some of the Democratic Party’s most experienced operatives...“It’s a palpable frustration. Deep-seated unease in the sense that the message has gotten away from them.”
September 12, 2008
AP Poll: McCain has “the Right Type” of Experience for POTUS, 80-15; Obama Doesn’t, 46 (Yes) to 47 (No)
September 15, 2008
Hollywood in a Panic
“People are really scared that McCain is gaining,”< said a Hollywood politico involved with Tuesday’s fundraiser. “In my 20 years here, I have never seen folks write checks like this.”
September 16, 2008
The contest between Barack Obama and John McCain in New Jersey is too close to call, with a new Quinnipiac University poll showing the battle for the state’s fifteen electoral votes at 48%-45% among likely voters. Obama led McCain by ten percentage points, 51%-41% in an August Quinnipiac poll. The survey was done between September 10 and 14, so, like the New York poll that showed Obama with only a five-point lead, so it doesn’t fully reflect the vicious attacks that have been launched by the media over recent days. It may turn out to be a high-water mark for McCain. Still, this can’t be what Obama had in mind when he talked about running a 50-state race.
.
PART 1:
Incredible, proven, systematic, pro-Clinton, pro-Obama, pro-RINO, media Bias.
NB. Bill Clinton Finished Third in Battle for Campaign Coverage
PART 2:
PART 3:
FLASHBACK: from 9/15/08:
How did Obama know THEN
that we would experience the ‘most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression’
when those who did not plan the takeover would not know for three more months?
October 10, 2008, another massive selloff.
PART 4:
the Pumas were a fake.
it was all a sucker punch.
HOWEVER the attack on palin is wrong.
Palin kept mccain from being slaughtered and the losses from being much worse.
Bullspit. Palin kept mccain from losing even worse. She could have beaten uhhbama had she been at the top of the ticket and free to run as she wanted to.
It is odd isnt it how the economy fell apart so quickly just as mccain pulled 10 points ahead?
well, he is correct that the PUMA thing was BS. However, he missed how effective the Palin pick was. The day after Obama’s “the speech” in Denver, all anyone was talking about was that “McCain picked a woman veep!”
“The PUMA thing was fictional. Most of the Hillary supporters ended up voting for Obama (surprise, surprise). Hens of a feather flock together.”
That Puma thing was idiotic. Most Hillary supporters voted for the socialist. That’s what they are. It’s in their blood.
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