[Will88]

"There are fundamental facts ... that cannot be denied," McCain said. "When we selected or asked Sarah Palin to be my running mate, it energized our party. We were ahead in the polls, until the stock market crashed. And she still is a formidable force in the Republican Party."

A rare occasion where Juan says something I agree with. They were ahead, by 4% as I recall, until the financial crisis broke and Juan went into his man on the white horse routine and made all the wrong moves, including a threat to cancel the first presidential debate at Ole Miss. (And he sure didn't help the cause with his debate performances.)

And that true statement from Juan throws into doubt everything this Schmidt character has been saying, that the selection of Palin was a big mistake, and that it damaged the Republican chances. The opposite is true, they surged ahead until Juan blew it with his mishandling of the financial crisis.

[Carley]

Sarah Palin is a formidable force FOR Americanism.

[deannadurbin]

If McCain had voted AGAINST TARP he would have won.

He didn’t set himself apart from fake conservative Bush or liberal Democrat Obama. They all promoted and voted for TARP.

If McCain had taken a principled stand and NOT VOTED FOR TARP I am convinced he would have won.