Sarah Palin: Not my fault John McCain lost

The Associated Press

4:22 PM EST, November 5, 2008

Was it Sarah Palin's fault? She doesn't think so.

She was asked Wednesday morning if her selection as John McCain's running mate might have been a factor in his defeat Tuesday.

She responded that nobody should give her that much credit. Instead, she says, voters were swayed by what she called a "woeful" economic situation.

But she adds that if she cost McCain even one vote, she's sorry -- because she believes McCain is the definitive American hero, and that she "had believed that it was his time."

Just under 40% of voters who were surveyed at the polls Tuesday said Palin would be qualified to become president if necessary. And about four in 10 independents said Palin's selection had an important impact on their decision -- with a narrow majority of them supporting Obama.

Copyright © 2008, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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I definitely believe that her placement as the VP on the ticket cost McCain votes...not a doubt in my mind.

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Have the courage to be yourself.

My husband was a McCain guy right up to the VP announcement. So, thanks Sarah !!!

Of course, then there are those like me who wer e"ok" with McCain....not necessarily thrilled with Him. When he named Palin as his running mate, we were on board big time. Most of the people I know felt like this.

I would have loved to see a Bobby Jihndal (la.)/ Palin ticket. I definitely think Bobby is going to be part of the GOP future.

But, you would have held your nose and voted McCain. Your candidate lost my husband's demographic "big time."

I do feel sorry for Sarah P. She had a good thing going in Alaska and her kids have had to live through this. She really should have blinked! Sadly, I don't think she has the critical thinking skills to have processed all the competing issues. Her level of ethical lapses are less than the apparent Alaska norm, so she was celebrated there. Now, between the trooper thing, her house, her travel - who knows. But for this fiasco, those issues would have been blips on the radar. I suppose she will get a nifty talk show or at the least a radio show after she loses the next gov. race.

Exactly. Sure there were some in the republican base that weren't thrilled with McCain, and wanted someone more conservative, but it's not like they were gonna go vote for Obama. With a more moderate VP, he'd have the base, a lot of the independents and probably even some of the more conservative dems.

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Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.

There really isn't any question, is there, that Palin cost McCain the moderates? Costing him the moderates put the election completely out of reach.

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Reading is Fundamental.

I hope they at least let her keep the clothes as a parting gift, Shoot, I'd be okay with P.E. Obama paying for them with Dem. election donations. It's the least we could do ..........

I think the GOP should give her another chance in the next Presidential election.

We can hope

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Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.

I'm just sorry that Tina Fey has lost one of her sources of good material.

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Nothing would make me happier than to see Palin get a chance to run for president.

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Reading is Fundamental.

Where I think Palin also hurt McCain is that her choice sent Hillary Clinton voters surely into the arms of Barack Obama. I think most Hillary Clinton voters still would have supported Obama. But I think that the enthusiasm that these voters ended up having for Obama was the result, in part, of their being offended by the idea that Sarah Palin was intended to woo them to vote for the McCain ticket. She also played badly with younger voters, and that is something which may have legs. In other words, these younger voters may identify now with being Democratic voters in coming elections as well.

If Palin was chosen to energize the base, she did a relatively good job. She did cost them some key endorsements, at least when her choice was combined with McCain voting for the bailout.

But if she was intended to bring votes to McCain that he otherwise wouldn't have already been able to count on, she was a very bad choice.

So while she may have enthused the Republican base, she also enthused the moderate Democrats and Independents in their support for Obama. And that made her a bad choice, IMHO.

Obama would have had me if he would have picked Clinton. . .but he didn't.

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From the people I have talked to, that wasn't the case at all. McCain had the moderates. who he lost was the libertarians and the constitutionalists. If anything, Palin made them reconsider. It wasn't enough for them though. All McCain had to do was oppose the bailout. They completelty jumped ship when he talked that "we should buy up all the mortgages" bullsh*t. What I have heard over and over is that they figured McCain was just as socialist as Obama. They voted Baldwin or Barr.

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"No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?"
- George Orwell Animal Farm

Don't worry. . .Biden is going to be non-stop entertainment. Anybody hear the "my wife is a girl-girl, but my sister is a girl-boy" comment?

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"No one believes more firmly than Comrade Napoleon that all animals are equal. He would be only too happy to let you make your decisions for yourselves. But sometimes you might make the wrong decisions, comrades, and then where should we be?"
- George Orwell Animal Farm

Palin made them reconsider, all right.

Link

I can't comment on the people you've talked to, but every exit poll I've read indicates that Obama took the moderates, not McCain. You don't build the kind of huge victory Obama did without doing so.

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Reading is Fundamental.

Huge victory? 48% of the American voters cast for McCain. I don't see Obama winning as huge, actually it was fairly close.

dl

"Fairly close"? Bush claimed a mandate when he won by 500 votes in Florida. Obama won by seven million votes. He had over double the electoral votes that McCain had, a difference that's likely to increase when Missouri and NC are finally included. And McCain only got 46% of the voters, don't fool yourself. Obama had 53%. That's a full seven points.

You might not see it as huge, but you'd be wrong. It was a large, decisive victory.

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Reading is Fundamental.

A lot of us would have loved to see him pick Clinton, but he didn't need too........he won without her.

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Once the game is over, the king and the pawn go back in the same box.

You are 50/50 yourself. You didn't call me a liar, but decided I am wrong.

More of your deny/deflect. I didn't talk about Bush, you did. Neither of us mentioned electoral votes until you did, again trying to deflect. I didn't predict any "likely" increases, I speak of current stats and what the media reported.

Even with your purported seven points, it is still NOT huge. It's seven points out of a possible 100.

Even with your statement of 53%, that's not huge, it's only 3% over half. Oops, now I see you say it's large, not huge. In reality, it's a win, nothing more, nothing less.

cpsfsisooi

I didn't like that comment by her. I think she could have worded it another way.

As far as Palin costing him votes......it didn't cost him my vote. In fact, no matter who he picked as VP, he would have my vote. I think the economic situation and the smaller amount of money to spend on the campaign were not in his favor. He could have had anyone as his VP and it just was not going to go his way.

I am relieved in a sense that Obama won. For one, there won't be (as much???) rioting over an "injustice", we can finally tell those that feel their skin color holds them back to try using that line somewhere else, and the public will get a nice taste of what a Democratic president is like. It's been a while, and many of these young voters don't remember the Clinton years. Obama is being held to the fire and will need to deliver, and honestly, I don't think he can.

BTW, it's so nice to see those that had such hatred for the McCain/Palin ticket still do, and still continue to fling the mud. What happened to "come together"?? Maybe that's just a talking point, too???

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AllinAugust,

Obama said it himself right away in his acceptance speech, that he may not be able to do it.

He said "It may....

Let me get the quote.. brb
"The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even one term,.."

I don't expect him to be able to fix what has been done these last 16 years in one term, but at the very least, I am hoping he can make a difference and get us back on the right path. I am hoping anyway. Optimism is my middle name

What happened to the "Yes, We Can"? Is he backpedaling already?

I have a feeling if he doesn't some thru with his promises, there's going to be some mighty angry folk. Especially those who are expecting a handout. I saw a lady on TV yesterday stating she was so happy Obama was elected because now she wouldn't have to work any more and wouldn't have to pay her mortgage!!

Actually, I don't think this is accurate, I never thought in a million years I would have found most of my comfort in..GASP hillaryclintonforum.net, there were thousands of Hillary supporters that refused to vote for Obama..they all supported Palin at that forum.