McCain says he regrets choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate

American Thinker ^ | 05/05/2018 | Thomas Lifson

[SeekAndFind]

The forthcoming final memoir from Senator John McCain, titled The Restless Wave, and a nearly two-hour-long HBO documentary on its way seem to be being used as an opportunity to settle some scores. Jonathan Martin of the New York Times has obtained copies of both books, and has spoken with the ailing senator at his ranch, where he seems to be spending his final days. This leaped out at me:

While he continues to defend Ms. Palin’s performance, Mr. McCain uses the documentary and the book to unburden himself about not selecting Mr. Lieberman, a Democrat-turned-independent, as his running mate.

He recalls that his advisers warned him that picking a vice-presidential candidate who caucused with Democrats and supported abortion rights would divide Republicans and doom his chances.

It is odd indeed to call it “sound advice” and to simultaneously wish he had disregarded it. Logically, this seems to mean that he wishes he had lost, while making a futile gesture towards bipartisanship, or maybe just avoiding contamination with the populism of Sarah Palin. It is an open secret that members of McCain’s campaign sought to sabotage Palin during the campaign, apparently preferring to lose rather than tolerate her views and her persona.

This odd, unsourced paragraph written by Martin offers a clue:

 Yet many in Mr. McCain’s own party believe that, by selecting Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008, he bears at least a small measure of blame for unleashing the forces of grievance politics and nativism within the Republican Party.

I strongly suspect that McCain himself expressed these views to Martin, but asked not to be quoted.

[AzNASCARfan]

Because she almost made him win an election he was taking a dive on and it illustrated it perfectly when you look back on it.

[CdMGuy]

Definition of the word Mean: John McCain

[Cecily]

Sarah is the only reason I didn’t skip the presidential race on the ballot that year, because I couldn’t stand him.

[Baldwin77]

This statement says a whole lot more about John McCain than Sarah.

[ataDude]

She’s the only reason I contributed to, and voted for, him.

[italianquaker]

I still feel dirty for voting for Mccain

[shanover]

Bitter man is McCain

[jocon307]

What a despicable cad, to speak ill of a woman who helped him when he asked her too. More than once, I imagine.

[adorno]

It’s more like republicans regret having selected McCain as their 2008 presidential candidate.

If McCain had dropped out and left Sarah to run in his place, we might never have seen an Obama presidency.

Obama was allowed into the American people’s lives by McCain. We might as well have called the democrat ticket as Obama/McCain.

[Tammy8]

Yes, I remember the day Sarah Palin was introduced as his running mate. Sparked a hope in my husband and I, and a question that possibly McCain was not a complete RINO it seemed there was some tiny bit of real conservative in him some where. We had no excitement about McCain the whole election except with that choice. The way she was treated during that campaign by McCain himself and his staff proved to us beyond all doubt he has no conservative thoughts, he is a lefty.

The RINOS are as bad as the left looking for reasons why conservatives woke up...they have no more idea how Trump got elected. Clueless.

[outinyellowdogcountry]

Palin endorsed him for reelection. That is class. Unfortunately.

[Widget Jr]

Yeah, that pic sums it up.

[Tammy8]

I think it was all rigged all along for Obama to win, McCain was a token opposition so we the people would think there was a fair election. I think Palin was thrown out there as a bone for conservatives, but she was far more popular than they dreamed and gathering actual voters, so they had to squelch her as much as possible.

It was all a sham and there really is a unity party...the only real opposition is we the people. I don’t think this is the only election that was done with an agreement ahead of time by the swamp people as to whose turn it was to be in the oval office. I think there have been many.

The meltdown situation we have been in since Trump was elected is because the swamp people had an agreement it was Hillary’s turn. I think it was supposed to be Hillary against Jeb Bush, and we the people decided to finally stand up to the corruption and said NO early enough in the process to derail their plans. If Jeb had been the R nominee what could we have done at that point? I don’t think enough people would have been willing to vote for Jeb, and the votes were rigged...so we would now have Hillary.

[Lockbar]

"Can we wrap this up by Wednesday?"

Why wait that long?? The sooner the better.

[Skooz]

And I regret having to vote for him because I had no other choice.

Ditto. And I waited in line for 3 hours to do so.

[Political Junkie Too]

Not doing much, from what I can see.

-PJ

[Gene Eric]

You will not be missed, jackass.

[Dawgreg]

Without Sarah Palin on his ticket, McCain would have lost in one of the biggest landslides in American history.

You got that right. I didn’t vote for HIM, I voted for HER........

[ducttape45]

Again, just goes to show how traitorous this man really is.

[The Great RJ]

“When statesmen forsake their own private conscience for the sake of their own public duties they lead their country by a short route to chaos.” Sir Thomas Moore..
A Man For All Seasons”