McCain was a respectable Republican before he picked Palin, and really if any other candidate of '08 had run, they probably would've been Goldwatered .
That's debatable. Romney and Huckabee had their owns pros and cons. And as we witness this cycle polarization makes all but certain that a Goldwater/MocGovern style defeat is almost out of the question for anyone.
I think Romney may have been Goldwatered. With his direct connections to the financial industry, the Great Recession would have damaged him much more than it even did McCain.
Huckabee on the other hand may have been able to win Indiana and possibly North Carolina.
