How many votes did Palin cost McCain?

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

Palin was essentially a "Hail Mary" VP pick, which was what McCain needed at the time. He needed to attract the most amount of media attention possible, appease the conservative base, and to an extent it worked.

The problem is, Palin herself was poor on the stump and acted "on her own" at times, contradicting the top of her ticket. Palin energized conservatives, but cost McCain "experience" voters, and probably other independents.

Now, the question is, who would have been a good VP pick for McCain?

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

Palin was essentially a "Hail Mary" VP pick, which was what McCain needed at the time. He needed to attract the most amount of media attention possible, appease the conservative base, and to an extent it worked.

The problem is, Palin herself was poor on the stump and acted "on her own" at times, contradicting the top of her ticket. Palin energized conservatives, but cost McCain "experience" voters, and probably other independents.

Now, the question is, who would have been a good VP pick for McCain?

I think Kay Bailey Hutchison would have been a great vice presidential selection, but she is somewhat pro-choice so that automatically eliminates her. If he wanted a female, he could have selected Elizabeth Dole, but she was struggling to hold her own Senate seat, so I'm not sure. Trying to think of some other prominent GOP females - the Sisters of Maine would have been good choices but they're in the same bag as Hutchison, pro-choice and pro-gay so no chance in hell the Republicans would support them. As for House members, I don't know many too prominent GOP women aside from Palin's lunatic twin sister Michele Bachmann, the only person I know of who makes Sarah Palin look like she has a double-digit IQ.

Which articulates my point - no female energized & appeased the base except for Sarah Palin and Bachmann - the latter is merely a representative, which raises concern in the case that McCain dies during his Presidency.

Now, the question is, who would have been a good VP pick for McCain?

John Thune probably would have been one of McCain's best options. Thune was a hadcore cosnervative, which would have pleased the base. Simaultenously, his nice guy persona would appeal to moderates. Not to mention that he isn't as stupid as Palin and thus isn't as prone to making large gaffes.

The problem is, the media reaction would have been "John Thune, South Dakota" and the voters' response would've been "yawn." McCain needed something big. Unfortunately for him, Sarah Palin was simply too gaffe-prone.

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

Palin was essentially a "Hail Mary" VP pick, which was what McCain needed at the time. He needed to attract the most amount of media attention possible, appease the conservative base, and to an extent it worked.

The problem is, Palin herself was poor on the stump and acted "on her own" at times, contradicting the top of her ticket. Palin energized conservatives, but cost McCain "experience" voters, and probably other independents.

Now, the question is, who would have been a good VP pick for McCain?

I think Kay Bailey Hutchison would have been a great vice presidential selection, but she is somewhat pro-choice so that automatically eliminates her. If he wanted a female, he could have selected Elizabeth Dole, but she was struggling to hold her own Senate seat, so I'm not sure. Trying to think of some other prominent GOP females - the Sisters of Maine would have been good choices but they're in the same bag as Hutchison, pro-choice and pro-gay so no chance in hell the Republicans would support them. As for House members, I don't know many too prominent GOP women aside from Palin's lunatic twin sister Michele Bachmann, the only person I know of who makes Sarah Palin look like she has a double-digit IQ.

Which articulates my point - no female energized & appeased the base except for Sarah Palin and Bachmann - the latter is merely a representative, which raises concern in the case that McCain dies during his Presidency.

Now, the question is, who would have been a good VP pick for McCain?

John Thune probably would have been one of McCain's best options. Thune was a hadcore cosnervative, which would have pleased the base. Simaultenously, his nice guy persona would appeal to moderates. Not to mention that he isn't as stupid as Palin and thus isn't as prone to making large gaffes.

The problem is, the media reaction would have been "John Thune, South Dakota" and the voters' response would've been "yawn." McCain needed something big. Unfortunately for him, Sarah Palin was simply too gaffe-prone.

The thing is, Thune might not have initially caused as much excitement as Palin did, but I think that as the American people would have gotten to know Thune throughout the camapign, both moderates and conservatives would have liked him to a large extent. Thus, I think that if the financial crisis would not have occured, a McCain/Thune ticket might have achieved an upset victory. Thune would have gradually given McCain extra support, in contrast to Palin, who immediately gave McCain a lot of support and then helped him lose a lot of support. Even with the financial crisis, I think that Thune would have prevented McCain from losing IN and NC and might have caused McCain to lose by 4-6% in the PV (even though McCain would have still lost by a decent margin in the end).

McCain could have prevented himself from IN and NC, if he did something other than sleep in Pennsylvania for the last month of the campaign.

Again, Thune would have locked up conservatives and had that "nice, handsome guy" image, but he just didn't generate the same buzz that a female candidate would have. Thune, in hindsight, very well may have been the better VP pick, but hindsight is 20/20. Were I in McCain's spot at the time, I probably would've done the same.