You’re giving LSM like Couric too much credit. Barbara Walters is more of a force than Couric.
Couric only appeals to liberals.
Independents, contrary to many of extreme right and extreme left’s belief, don’t trust news. Some don’t even read news from both liberal media and Fox News.
McCain/Palin ticket lost due to the curse of the Incumbent (the Republican President in 2008)ollowing:
(1) Call for Change. This is important to independents. Election is always about making “change” for good. The ticket is tied to a very unpopular incumbent and his party.
(2) Bad Economy. The buck stopped at the office of the President, a Republican at that time.
Question: When did the poll numbers of McCain plummet? September 2008 at the height of Financial Crisis.
The ticket’s poll numbers were still good even after the Couric interview.
By the way, what’s the damaging essence of the interview? That Palin didn’t read tabloids and lying papers like NYT? L don’t think that will matter in 2012 if she becomes a nominee.
McCain was flailing around well before that. His “fight with me, fight with me” speech at the convention was an embarrassment. He would NOT get in that mans face. At least Serra talked about “palling around with terrorists.” I think McCain saw what a mess was coming down the pike and took a dive, I really do. But when he shut down his campaign to return to Washington and then got there and basically said “whatever they decide is fine”, well that turned a lot of people off. It was like sKerry’s famous boat ride to the convention floor. It was supposed to be very dramatic and flopped.