There was such a lack of conservative support prior to the convention that it must have been pretty obvious to McCain that he wasn't going to pick up enough moderate support to make up for the drought of conservatives.
If things had been looking good for McCain earlier on, I don't think he would have been as likely to have chosen Gov. Palin.
I wish that was true. Every poll showed Obama was having trouble getting support of the rat base. BEFORE Palin was announced, polls showed McCain with support of 87% of Republicans and Osama with 74% of rats.
If things had been looking good for McCain earlier on, I don't think he would have been as likely to have chosen Gov. Palin.
In 2006 rats took the seats of JD Hayworth, John Hostettler, Dennis Hastert, Tom Delay, and Rick Santorum. They were all available to run for McCain's VP, but not one of them made the short list. The dwindling supply of real conservatives left in DC makes it hard to find a pro-life, pro-taxcut, pro-gun, pro-God "maverick" like McCain.
There are many reason to find Palin an attractive VP. She has lots of experience in front of a camera. She's a Governor making her the only person on the ticket with executive experience. In fact, Palin is the most popular GOP Gov in the US. AK was a swing state. Most importantly Palin's sex makes her popular with women, just as Osama's race makes him popular with 90% of blacks. Her biggest draw is women, not issues.
The fact that she agrees with McCain on abortion, 2nd amendment, taxes, earmarks, and the Iraq impresses us, but it does not bring moderate or independent voters. Issues don't motivate these voters. That is why they are not conservatives or liberals. Most conservatives were already going to hold their noses and vote against Osama. Palin brings far more soccer moms and Miss Teen South Carolina contestants to the table than conservatives. Palin's issues scare the hell out of liberal Hitlery voters who might have felt comfortable with McCain and sending a message to the DNC by sitting out the election.
McCain got to the convention without conservative votes and without our money. Had he won with a moderate VP like Ridge or Lieberman it would have exposed the impotence of conservatism to capture the support of American voters. What McCain did was save the conservatives bloated sense of power even though we have stood in his way and failed. It is an extremely smart move on McCain's part. It will likely result in a land slide victory for McCain.