After John McCain won the Republican nomination for President in 2008, he quickly found himself running headlong towards the oncoming freight train known as Barack Hussein Obama.
Like him or not, candidate Obama had a charisma and enthusiasm about him that McCain could never hope to match in a thousand years. But then God smiled on the Senator from Arizona and gave him the gift of a running mate with tons of charisma and enthusiasm of her own: Sarah Palin.
Unlike virtually anyone else in the party, Palin had the ability to energize and expand a following the likes of which rivaled Obama’s, but what happened next is simply beyond rational explanation. For whatever reason, the McCain campaign made the ill-fated decision to put a muzzle on Palin, effectively throwing a tarp over the only real bright spot in the entire Republican campaign. Apparently, they believed that Palin would slip up and say something that would end up costing them the election, and since she was a newcomer to the national political landscape there was always that chance indeed. But they simply had to take that chance because they had no other hope. Inexplicably, they didn’t.
The exuberance and enthusiasm that Palin brought to the ticket was the only real hope McCain had for pulling a victory out of the jaws of defeat. As much as I admire John McCain as a war hero and a patriot, compared to the overwhelming personality of Obama on the campaign trail, McCain’s was virtually non-existent. Governor Palin filled that void in spades.
I believe that if McCain had stood up to his handlers and given Palin free reign to really engage the massive crowds that showed up at her events on her own terms, sit down for substantive interviews, and stand up for herself when attacked, she and McCain together could have defeated the Democratic ticket and possibly even held on to a crucial Senate seat or two. But such was not the case, and the result is the colossal mess we find ourselves in today.
Sarah Palin has been attacked by her supremely liberal opponents at every turn, and in every case she has come out of the ordeal with the upper hand. Every attempt to make her look foolish or discredit her has ended up doing exactly the reverse. Why is she such a lightning rod for liberal attacks and scorn? Because she and she alone among prominent Republicans poses an existential threat to their hold on power. It’s obvious that the Democrats recognize her awesome ability to energize the party’s base. It’s a crying shame that McCain and his advisers did not.