For everything that is going wrong for America, John McCain must share the blame, along with the ignorant, incompetent, petty-mindedly vengeful, Alinsky-marinated Chicago clique now in the White House.
Barack Obama was not presidential material, and some of us – some tens of millions of us in all probability – believe he won the election because John McCain let him win. Not intentionally, but foolishly.
This was how he did it. The voters were kept ignorant about Obama by the deliberate choice of those whose job it was to inform them. McCain, and McCain alone, was in a position to bypass the highly partisan media and tell the country, every time he stood before the TV cameras and addressed tens of millions of attentive ears, just whom Obama’s political faction consisted of: subversives, such as, most prominently, the America-hating terrorist-supporting Jeremiah Wright, pastoral leader of thousands, and the actual terrorist Bill Ayers, ‘educator’ (read indoctrinator) of generations of children.
But McCain chose not to do it.
Why he chose not to do it must remain forever among the darkest of dark mysteries to those who suppose he had a reason. Only those of us see the light who believe that McCain – undoubted hero and patriot that he is, man of extraordinary courage and endurance – was simply not savvy enough to play the cards he held, and was surrounded by advisers who were also not good at thinking, or just didn’t think.
An innumerable portion of us among the tens of millions knew from the moment McCain was chosen as the Republican candidate (instead of the eminently electable Mitt Romney) – yes, from that very second – that the election was lost. It was then that our hearts sank, not to rise again on the helium of hope until very recently. (The hope, expressed at vast tea-parties, is that Obama can yet be stopped from steering the ship of state on to the rocks.)
The one person in his campaign who could and did think, had all the political astuteness necessary to use the ammunition available to win the fight, was Sarah Palin.
In her book, Going Rogue, she relates how she wanted to raise the damning facts about Obama but was ‘told to sit down and shut up’. Eventually she was reluctantly allowed by ‘headquarters’ to touch on his ‘associations with questionable characters’ but only in the form of a ‘sound bite written into a rally speech’, about Obama ‘palling around with terrorists’ (pages 306-307). One gathers that her will in this matter, as in others, was snaffled and curbed almost to impotence. She does not blame McCain, she is consistently respectful of him, but after reading her account we can and should blame him.
Slight and mild as the little stabbing sound-bite was, ‘the left went nuts, accusing me of lowdown rhetoric unworthy of presidential politics’. (Remember the cruel, lowdown, untrue things the left said about her that they must have deemed worthy of presidential politics?)
But of course the opposition reacted like that. The little stab went home. They knew her reference was potent against them. They feared that if it were made much of, if it were to be emphasized, repeated, insisted upon, their candidate was sunk.
So did McCain read the signs aright and follow up the small victory? Not he. It was always, it seems, more important to McCain to be perceived as a gentleman than that he should win the election for his party, its principles, and its policies. May he long bask in a complacent gentlemanliness as the country endures the consequences of his choice!
His whole organization aided him in making it. ‘Although,’ Palin writes, ‘it was headquarters that had issued the sound bite, the folks there did little more than duck’ when the left reacted with its whining and insolent abuse.
If Palin had been allowed to say whatever she knew needed to be said, or even better if she had been the one to plan the tactics of the campaign, it is possible that McCain would have won. He would most likely not have made a good president, but he couldn’t be as bad as Obama.
If Palin were ever to run her own campaign, signs are she would know how to do it. The autobiographer of Going Rogue emerges from the pages as not only competent, commonsensical, brave, honest, strong, unselfish, knowing her own worth without vanity, but also a born leader, a conservative who understands and shares the values that made America great, and a natural politician who at the same time is a person of integrity. A very rare phenomenon!
The Republican party should appreciate that her exceptional abilities are gifts to it, assets to be grateful for, and should help her make the most of them.
Jillian Becker is editor-in-chief of The Atheist Conservative
November 28th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
I haven’t read the book. I was just wondering if Sarah discussed why she smoked pot after giving her life to Christ as a young teenager. Did she bring that up? I just thought it would be interesting to hear what she had to say about it.
November 28th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
John McCain is a typical RINO; he’s more concerned with HOW he wins rather than prevailing.
Thus he felt the need to tell America that Obama was a decent man, a good family man and that the American people did not have to be scared of Obama if he became POTUS.
I didn’t the job of the opposing party leader candidate was to LEGITIMIZE the opposing leader. But that is what McCain did in the 2008 campaign.
November 28th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
1. . .Why can’t you be religious and smoke pot at the same time?
November 28th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
You can love god and pot CR.
November 28th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
1. Please let us see your source for that accusation. Do you have one?
I’m curious.
November 28th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
Although I’ve tried neither
.
November 28th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
“If Palin were ever to run her own campaign, signs are she would know how to do it.”
Because she did such a bang up job quitting her job as governor. She almost achieved the level of competence that McCain exhibited by suspending his campaign in the middle of the economic crisis. And yes McCain was a truly terrible candidate.
November 28th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Sarah has admitted she tried pot.
WHO CARES.
November 28th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
McCain lost by about 9% (after leading by close to 9% less than two months before!).
I agree he should have raised these issues but they didn’t cost him anything like 9% and he was in a position to win before he stuffed up the GFC and the rest of the country found out that Palin was actually as dumb as some of us picked from the start.
November 28th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Lost by around 9%? How about around 7%?
When did he lead by 9%? Was that the USA Today/Gallup poll that showed him up ten among adults taken after Paliin’s convention speech?
November 28th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
#6 Heath. . . I’ve dabbled in both…both have their merits, but too much of either can be a problem.
November 28th, 2009 at 6:31 pm
I might be in the minority here, but running for President takes an enormous amount of discipline and I don’t think Palin has it….I don’t like the word ROGUE when thinking about my President, and I never liked McCain’s maverick label either.
If Palin ever did become a rogue President, how could she ever take advise from her advisors? She went into the 2008′ Campaign not accepting the fact that campaigns had to stay on message, but her attitude was that she knew what was best.
I don’t think McCain’s campaign staff should be held to blame for their loss….Yes McCain was a terrible candidate, but so was Palin. I think they are both responsible for their loss.
November 28th, 2009 at 6:38 pm
LOL AJ.
TB sorry for my aggregious error but 7.5 is “about” 9 and I recall some polls that had McCain up by “close to” 9 just BEFORE the infamous Couric interview which the Palinites conveniently forget started the 15 point slide almost a week before McCain’s “fundamentals are strong” let’s suspend the campaign etc.
November 28th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
I am sorry but Palin is not presidential material. An interesting personality, yes, a figurehead for conservatives, yes, a potential talk-show host, yes, a successor to Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Lincoln, Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt, Ike, JFK, Reagan, even Clinton and Obama, NO. If the GOP rejects Mitt Romney, its most qualified candidate in a generation, for this self-publicist then it will suffer its worst defeat since 1964 and enter the oblivion it richly deserves!!
November 28th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Heath, why don’t you answer the question as to why or how McCain was up 9 (I only recall one poll showing him up 10).
November 28th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
Also, Obama’s margin of victory wasn’t 7.5% but rather 7.2%. So I think it’s quite a stretch to claim Obama won by “around 9%” when “around 7%” would be significantly more accurate.
November 28th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
sarabee, it was discussed during the campaign, and McCain’s people said they were aware of it, but since it was legal in Alaska at the time, they saw no problem…pretty common knowledge and admitted by Sarah
November 28th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
#2 – I agree with you. I remember on the campaign trail when a few of the supporters booed at the mention of Obama, McCain cautioned them and told them that Obama was a good man, had a nice family, loved America, and would be just fine if elected!!! I couldn’t believe how stupid that was….but that’s just the way McCain ran his general campaign. He had a lot of bad things to say about his republican opponents, even lies.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
TB life is good – hopefully the weather is good where you are and you should outside and enjoy yourself.
By the way I do need to correct one thing though the slide started after the GIBSON interview which ironically in hindsight was one of her better ones!
November 28th, 2009 at 7:04 pm
McCain did bring up Ayers many times during the election. Maybe it wasn’t to a level of satisfaction but it didn’t gain any momentum. Wright was hands off and again you can disagree but millions of people had already brushed off the points of this association during the Democratic Primary season where it first surfaced. It didn’t help Hillary and it wouldn’t have helped McCain.
McCain lost because of four reasons 1) Wrong Track-Right tracker numbers in the 70/30 range. 2) The very unpopular President Bush 3) The economy blowing up and 4) Lack of money and resources. Read Plouffe’s book for a reminder of how dominating Obama was during the primary season from both a money and grassroots involvement.
Obama wasn’t viewed by Independents and Republicans who voted for him as the radical liberal we knew he was. Complaining about McCain not attacking Obama on Wright and Ayers wouldn’t have changed the 4 fundamental reasons why we lost.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:05 pm
The weather isn’t good here Heath. In fact, it’s around 40 degrees. It’s officially 49 degrees but close enough I suppose considering a 7.2% margin is now “around 9 percent.”
November 28th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
#20 Plouffe makes the fanciful claim in his chapter about Palin that her convention speech somehow only fired up her base when it’s pretty clear from all polling that Plouffe is engaging in some revisionist history.
Plouffe also makes the stunning claim that McCain only took the lead in the popular vote after Palin’s convention speech and that Obama still had the lead in the electoral college the entire time (see Nate Silver’s analysis for the unlikelihood of such a situation occurring).
November 28th, 2009 at 7:12 pm
I’ve been a vocal critic of McCain for a long time, yet this post demonstrates why the Republican party is a minority party. Is it in Sarah Palin’s interest to direct the public away from her embarrassing interviews, her early departure from the Alaska governor’s mansion, and her trivial fueds with Levi Johnston, David Letterman, the McCain campaign staff, and the entire mainstream media. Are we to believe that if ONLY we had listened to Sarah, Obama would be flying to Copenhagen in a private jet instead of Air Force One? Its a huge stretch. The truth is that McCain and Palin looked like deer staring into headlights when the financial crisis hit. Neither of these clowns were prepared.
Who among the candidates to the left were prepared? I think the answer is obvious. When we drop terms like RINO and start asking who will the public trust to navigate this country through the greatest challenges this country has ever seen, only then will we recapture the White House. Its time to stop blaming our members of Congress, our Senators and, yes, our party “elites” and work together to stop Obama’s agenda.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
Agreed, though I don’t know how much #4 mattered — #3 was sufficient by itself.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Ha got me a good one there Tom
.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Eric you forget Sarah Palin whose net unfavorables were around 20% by election day!
November 28th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Asparagus
@23
Great comment, you said it all!
November 28th, 2009 at 7:36 pm
23 – you are fast becoming the best commentator on here!
November 28th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Asparagus is soooooo smart–or should I say smartass.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
The moment of the financial crash we were going to lose in 2008. If we picked Romney or Huckabee or Palin or Abe Lincoln, it wouldn’t have mattered. There are just certain bad years for a party and 2008 was one of those for the GOP.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Jonathan don’t try to reason with Asparagus, Heath, or Ikv. Smartass commentary is sure to turn the country around and beat Obama.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Grant Gormley, you are a perfect fit for the Palin camp. Pea Brains Unite!
November 28th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
DanL I’m pretty sure my education and brain are far superior to yours. Put your educational background on so we can judge your intellect.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
The Going Rogue interview series has been incredibly disappointing, overall.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
People should actually read Sarah’s book and judge for themselves.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
From “I won’t even try” to win over my critics — and remember, the onus is upon them to read her booK! — to “Lame-stream media” to talking about running with Glenn Beck to the embarrassing response about Israel to the hackneyed Reagan references.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
Alex–anything positive about Sarah.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
#31:
I wasn’t disagree with Asparagus, in fact I agree with the second paragraph in #23. I was simply saying that it didn’t matter what we did, we were going to lose in 08.
November 28th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
You should disagree with the nature of Asparagus post–it is terribly immature and designed to keep conservatives in a permanent minority status. Smartass attacks won’t get us anywhere..
November 28th, 2009 at 8:01 pm
“Who among the candidates to the left were prepared? I think the answer is obvious. When we drop terms like RINO and start asking who will the public trust to navigate this country through the greatest challenges this country has ever seen, only then will we recapture the White House. Its time to stop blaming our members of Congress, our Senators and, yes, our party “elites” and work together to stop Obama’s agenda.” Hilarious, it is time the party elite put up instead of just sitting on high horses.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
Grant, Apsparagus made a reasoned, rational statement in 23 and you come back like a 5 year old and call her a smart ass. Who cares what level of education you claim as an anonymous internet poster? Your response puts you squarely in line with the Palinista doctrine of plugging your ears and running around yelling ‘nyah nyah I can’t here you RINOs!’
November 28th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Ohio–the elites of either party have gotten us to where we are. Maybe the nonelite should get a chance to fix things. I’m rather tired of those who constantly attack Sarah’s intellect–she is very bright. Keep supporting Sarah against the intellectual snobs who probably don’t have much for academic credentials.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
“Grant, Apsparagus made a reasoned, rational statement in 23″ “Bunk! Neither of these clowns were prepared.” Then who was freaking prepared dare one ask? It sure shooting was not Mr. Obama!
November 28th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
#40:
I’m curious OH Joe, but who qualifies as a party elite? Is it pragmatists within the party or those willing to compromise once every 10 years?
November 28th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
DanL still waiting for your credentials–when you support asparagus post attacking Sartah’s intelligence. Ashamed of your credentials?
November 28th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
You are right Grant, the only thing the elites know how to do is spend tax payer money and produce economic damage. Then they wonder why we are in such a mess.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Who is the clown now?
November 28th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Ohio–keep up the fight–I have to watch the Notre Dame game.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
It is once thing to compromise Jonathan, but pragmatism has run amok in our party. Spending like drunken sailors is non-sense not pragmatism. When we sacrifice too many principles, we have nothing left.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
Jonathon, it is becoming increasingly obvious that the party purists have taken up residence in the Palin camp, even more than the Huck camp.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
Grant you have a mind like a rusty bear trap.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
“Ohio–keep up the fight–I have to watch the Notre Dame game.” Enjoy the game, there is not a whole to fight for in some respects. The elite will run us off a cliff again and there is no stopping them until they reach their destination.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
#49:
On spending absolutely. Congress and President Bush flunked that course. But as for candidates, the whole pragmatists vs. purist thing has gone too far. Look at NY-23. Purists forced out the Republican nominee (a very bad nominee, but the nominee nonetheless) and supported a guy who didn’t know the issues in upstate New York any more than he knew what was going on in Arkansas. The end result; we lost a House seat and Pelosi got another vote.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
“The end result; we lost a House seat and Pelosi got another vote.” We were not going to win anyway. Even Mr. Gingrich could not save Queen Dede.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
#54:
Gingrich jumped into the race after Redstate and their friends decided to turn a special election into a Holy War. Maybe if national Republicans had agreed to stay out of it and let the voters of NY-23 decide who they want to represent them, things would have turned out differently.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:27 pm
“Gingrich jumped into the race after Redstate and their friends decided to turn a special election into a Holy War.” NO, the civil war was started by the party elite and the party elite will be punished until the shenanigans ends. It should not be rocket science.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Nobody here is attacking Gov. Palin’s intelligence. She simply wasn’t prepared. She was a great governor of a small state, but that doesn’t mean she was prepared for a crisis. For the record, Obama definitely wasn’t ready to lead in a crisis. He was just a better con man. I’d just like to move beyond the blame game.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
OJ there is no need for those nefarious “elites” to run you loons off a cliff. All of you Palindrones about the Palin Express are hurtling towards third party irrelevance. It’s just a shame that in your death throes you will cause Obama to be reelected.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:32 pm
*aboard the Palin Express…
November 28th, 2009 at 8:33 pm
Relax, Mr. Obama will not get re-elected if he keep up his non-sense and the elite stop picking fights with the grass roots.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:36 pm
Some see Palin’s online effort lacking
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/69629-some-see-palins-online-effort-lacking
November 28th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
Yeah, OJ, stop picking fights with us. Clearly, the Sarah Palin Express is now the elite of the party. I urge all the grass-roots Sarah Palin realists on this board to start calling the Sarah Palin Fan Club the “elites” of the party. They think they’re so smart! We’re #2!
November 28th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
“Yeah, OJ, stop picking fights with us.” Haha, I was the one who appointed Queen Dede as NY-23 candidate.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
#63:
Yes, the party leaders screwed up by choosing Scozzafava, but the purists also screwed up by raising Hoffman on their shoulders as the savior of NY-23. It didn’t matter to them that Hoffman didn’t know the district, wasn’t even from the district, and that they were doing the same exact thing they yelled at the NRSC about. What mattered to them was sticking it to the establishment when they didn’t know the particularities of the situation.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
“but the purists also screwed up by raising Hoffman on their shoulders as the savior of NY-23.” I do not know many people who thought of Mr. Hoffman as a savior. However, he was not Queen Dede. Yes we did stick it to the establishment and we will stick it to them until they become fiscally responsible and stop pissing money on non-sense candidates. Surf the web a bit and you might figure out that I am not the only person who has stopped giving the GOP money because of the civil war that the elite started in NY-23.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
In our re-enactment of the 2008 election, the part of John McCain will be played by Dede Scozzafava, a baby-killing, gun-grabbin, big-government RINO. The part of Sarah Palin will be played by Doug Hoffman, a country bumpkin with no knowledge of local issues, but boy does he have spunk!
November 28th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Asparagus: that has little basis in reality.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Its just a little play I’m writing.
November 28th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Alex Sarah has not changed one bit. I can’t believe that a smart person like you would have seriously expected the book and promotional tour to be about sustantive policy! C’mon – even the most charitable explantion for her historically bizarre mid first term resignation was to free her to become a celebrity and make millons. There is no other conceivable reason why eg she would want to continue to have a public slanging match with the teenage father or her first grandchild.
The only person who has changed has been you. Unless you were punking us I can only assume that it has to do with your hatred of Mitt & Mike. Only you can look into your soul and ask yourself what happened.
November 28th, 2009 at 9:31 pm
OJ,
Are you going to blather on about NY23 for the next 2 years? The problem with it, is that you have your own reality about it. The fact is that it was a debacle for the GOP all the way around. There’s no spinning it any different. It did not help conservatives whatsoever.
But don’t let the facts get in the way of your good story.
November 28th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
Palindrones never let facts get in the way of their good story.
November 28th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
DanL still waiting for your credentials –show us your brilliance
November 28th, 2009 at 9:56 pm
Well Grant, I have a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Cal Tech, JD and MBA from Stanford, MD from Harvard, am fluent in 30 languages and have an IQ of 220. Now let’s see your foney credentials. Oh wait, we wouldn’t have any way to verify any claim you make now would we. And who would be stupid enough to post transcripts on a blog? Surely not someone as smart as you claim to be.
November 28th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
73 – nice touch spelling phony wrong.
November 28th, 2009 at 11:16 pm
Grant Gormley:
#72
If Palin, Huckabee, and Romney run in 2012, who do you think Palin is most concerned about, Huckabee or Romney? I would think it would be Huckabee because he is kind of a populist like Palin, and then there’s the Evangelical vote they will vie for.
But, I just don’t see Romney being a threat to Palin at all. They will be going after different voters.
November 28th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
Fox News Sunday Morning (November 29th)
Huckabee and Howard Dean square off!
November 28th, 2009 at 11:26 pm
DanL I see you enjoy being on the receiving end of attacks about a person’s intelligence. Remember that when you attack Sarah and her supporters in the future. Have a nice day.
November 28th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
The GOP’s suicide pact
By Kathleen Parker
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/27/AR2009112702325_pf.html
Sarah Palin: Going Rogue, Getting Even
By Debra Saunders
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/printpage/?url=http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/11/29/sarah_palin_going_rogue_getting_even_99324.html
November 29th, 2009 at 12:06 am
DanL:
Cool, Dan’s roughly 45 times higher than Knepper’s, and approximately twice Mitt’s.
Too bad all that brilliance is squandered on Dan and Alex and Mitt. They’d be doing more for our collective well-being by wiring up their cerebra to power CFLs or something like that.
Climate change may yet be stopped in its tracks! Glory, Hallelujah!
November 29th, 2009 at 6:16 am
“But don’t let the facts get in the way of your good story.” I wish it were just a good story Martha, but hey.