You are dead wrong, FRiend. Zero's ascent was locked in with the nomination of McCain. Conservatives were going to sit on their hands or cast their vote not for McCain but rather against Obama.
Then came the announcement of Sarah for VP. The sea change was palpable! There was finally HOPE. Hope that Sarah could bring McCain back to the right, to be the sane voice of Conservatism in a McCain administration. Wallets opened spontaneously. Conservatives came back to the phone banks, to the neighborhood walks. Be in any local party HQ and what you heard was "I'm here because of Sarah." I was one of them and that's my testimony.
Too much hope to place on one person? Be cautious not to make this a cult of personality? Yes. But the excitement Sarah brings is not in how she says it but what she says. That is a world of difference.
No, Sarah did not give us Zero, she stopped him from claiming the "mandate" of a 50 state sweep that would have made the McGovern defeat look like a squeaker.
In real life there are few strong, charismatic leaders. Since it's not possible to vote for some abstract ideal figurehead you must take a chance on backing a real human being for the duration of the fight. Once in the fight you stick by that person.
Calling it a "cult of personality" is just a weak false argument. Backing the right horse seems more appropriate.
Good on you. The GOP failed in two respects. First: infighting regardless of platform. Second: running leftist. The donks kept on message and won. I saw the McCain/Huckabee/Romney results. This forum, by default, supported the loser in that scenario. And Palin is the loser in this scenario, with huge support here. Not from me. So the harpies call for my eradication because I call their fidelity into question. If the negotiations for getting (politically) screwed involves the price and conditions, do not call any of the thread harpies a harlot. Just shut up and take it.