Is it possible that the McCain campaign (and more likely, the RNC) chose Palin as a means to save the Alaska senate seat for the Republicans?
I just saw Chuck Todd and John Harwood on MSNBC saying that the McCain campaign is touting a post-Palin bump in the polls in Alaska. They wondered why the campaign would have spent money on a poll in a state as solidly red as Alaska. But it occurs to me that even if the presidential race isn't exactly tight there (and the polls have been tighter than anyone would have guessed), putting Palin on the ticket would get Alaskan Republicans out to the polls, and potentially create some coat-tails for Ted Stevens.
Even if McCain loses, this could prevent the Democrat Mark Begich from capturing what before Senator Stevens's indictment, was considered a long shot victory in the Alaska senate race. I guess it makes some sense for the NRSC to stem the bleeding wherever possible.
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Judging from Sarah Palin's unexpected and wildly successful acceptance speech last night, it would appear that McCain is more interested in winning the WH than propping up a corrupt senator from Alaska—who Palin going to throw under the bus anyway.
It is hard to believe that just 24 hours ago, Obama surrogates were refereeing to Palin as “Dan Quale with an up-do”, while others gleefully predicted that, she would fall on her face and be forced to withdraw by the end of the week.
What a normally nimble Team Obama is get caught flat footed after it guessed wrong about McCain picking Tim Pawlenty. Faced with no talking points about the unknown Palin, Team Obama resorted to a chaotic mix of outlandish personal and sexist attacks (Palin can’t be a VP AND take care of 5 kids; Palin is not the mother of her 4 year old infant; Palin is the mother of an unmarried pregnant teen; Palin’s husband got arrested for DUI 24 years ago ect.), and unwittingly set the bar for Palin’s speech so low that her success had even more impact.
Other fallout: The new CBS poll has the race dead even, and a Rasmussen poll says that 51% of likely voters think that the media tried to hurt Palin with biased coverage. 24% of the Rasmussen respondents said they were more likely to vote Republican in November as a result.
To sum up, in the dispite a horrible war, an unpopular incumbent president, and a terrible economy, the DNC has managed, once again, to screw up what should have been a 20 point lead in the polls by now.
If that's your take on the last week you have a very expansive vision of what constitutes "Team Obama."
And I'll believe that Palin's going to throw Stevens under the bus when I see it.
As for the electoral results, we'll just have to wait and see. Though it has been refreshing to see so many supporters of McCain and his party admitting that the race should be Obama's in a walk.
Sound like Anon gets his information from Rush Limbaugh, just like Ann Althouse. Good on you for tromping it down, JJ.
As to your main post -- it's an intriguing thought, although it does suffer one weakness: it credits John McCain with thinking. This is a man whose shoot-from-the-hip manner makes George Bush seem contemplative.
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