I loathed McCain and was determined that he was going to be the first GOP candidate in my life that I refused to vote for. The selection of Palin changed that in a split-second, and I cast my vote (for HER) with a level of enthusiasm that I had not experienced since the days of Ronald Reagan.
Frankly, I saw McCain for who he was and realized he would have given Palin the Lyndon Johnson (ex: John and Robert Kennedy’s treatment of him) treatment after Kennedy had won.
John would have relegated her to emptying the trash, and not contributing to any worthwhile policy decisions.
There’s no way her views would have fit into his plans.
She should have simply refused to lift his campaign up. I’ve never faulted her for joining the ticket, but if you get right down to it, she wasn’t going to improve his terms in office.