“If she can’t figure out that MeCain would screw over an administration that was Conservative”
We don’t know this much. All we know is her intention to campaign for him. In fact, we have evidence that she can figure out things which are more complicated, so your idea is a bit silly.
It’s much more sensible to assume she can figure it out (given her ability to figure out conservatism) but doesn’t believe it’s such a tragedy to fulfill her promise to the guy who allowed her to speak on a national stage.
Actually we do know this much. MeCain was a thorn in Bush’s side from day one. He was angry that he didn’t get the nod, and he determined that he would make life as miserable as he could for Bush.
MeCain went on as many talking head shows and disagreed with Bush constantly. Bush would announce policy, and John would find some way to tweak it to make Bush look less than presidential.
I was not a big Bush fan, but as a team player MeCain was insufferable. He’s a self-centered jerk, and if Sarah were to become president, she would have to deal with MeCain’s intransigence. I wouldn’t wish that on any president, having a guy in his own party trying to submarine his efforts constantly.
Look at the Democrats right now. There’s nobody to compare with what MeCain was doing in 2001 to 2009. Bush would figure out a strategy to deal with the Democrats, and MeCain would tweak Bush’s policy, thus defeating the ability for Bush to accomplish much.
If MeCain would have been right, perhaps it would have been okay. Most of the time he wasn’t. And the only reason he got the surge right is because it was against Bush’s initial policy, and John just happened to hit one policy right with a pellet from his shotgun approach.
As for MeCain’s selection of Palin, it was calculated to serve MeCain’s end, not as a favor to Palin. We can lay that to rest right now.