Hell, Sarah Palin almost did it herself despite the white haired old RINO weighting her down.
You’re right. Sarah pulled McCain ahead for a period of time after his announcement of her as his running mate. Then as the financial crisis unfolded McCain true to form tried to position himself to the left of 0 especially during that second debate. He also had those dimwits Schmidt and Wallace running things into the ground from the inside. From that point on he was too busy trying to be the “reach across the aisle maverick” (which is about the biggest oxymoron out there). What a mess.
The popular vote was 53% to 46%. That's not even close. While Palin helped, (and I don't think anyone expected how much she actually would) it still wasn't nearly enough.
I'm an admirer of hers - she's the embodiment to me of how the United States might still be a place where anyone can grow up to be President. But I'm still puzzled about her resignation as governor, because that's where you accumulate the experience points. Maybe popular wisdom nowadays says that the way to increase your credibility with the voting public is to be a TV personality. I sure hope that's not the case.