Palin Apologizes for costing McCain votes

[Red Dawn]

Palin 'sorry' if she cost McCain any votes

Wednesday November 5, 2008

One of the unanswered questions after John McCain's stunning loss to Barack Obama Tuesday night remains whether his decision to appoint an unknown, relatively inexperienced, obscure state governor as his running mate contributed to his downfall.

Speaking to reporters in Arizona, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said she was "sorry" if she cost John McCain any votes, and she demurred when asked whether she plans to run for president in four years.

Observers began to detect some animosity between McCain and Palin, who proved unwilling to stick to the campaign script and committed a fair share of gaffes in speeches and interviews. Before McCain delivered his concession speech Tuesday night, Palin reportedly wanted to speak to the crowd on her own, but chief strategist Steve Schmidt is said to have vetoed the idea.

Schmidt was noncommittal when the New York Times asked what he thought of Palin's performance on the campaign trail.

"I’m not going to go there," he told the paper. "There’ll be time for the post-mortems in the race."




The Raw Story | Palin 'sorry' if she cost McCain any votes

 

[Silence]

Cost him votes? Hell she got him the base at least...IMO without her he'd have lost even worse

 

[Modbert]

Cost him votes? Hell she got him the base at least...IMO without her he'd have lost even worse

She cost him independents though.

 

[Red Dawn]

Cost him votes? Hell she got him the base at least...IMO without her he'd have lost even worse

McCain would have gotten more votes with Susan Collins, Kay Bailey Hutchenson, or Mitt Romney on the ticket.

I think Sarah solidified the base, but she drove away independents, pro-choice women, and moderates.

 

[DavidS]

Wanted to address the crowd alone? wtf. This wasn't her time in the sun. A vp choice during the concession speech is supposed to shut up. Did Edwards want to address the country in '04? Did Lieberman in '00? Did Kemp in '96?

I hope that plane lands nice and safely in Anchorage and never lets her leave Alaska again. She hasn't done a damn thing for Alaska in the past 90 days and she's supposed to be running the place. Instead, McCain and the RNC have been.

McCain could've picked someone else to rally his base and actually given him more votes. Romney, Hutchinson, Biyh, ANYONE ELSE.

 

[Durnesque]

I hope that plane lands nice and safely in Anchorage and never lets her leave Alaska again. She hasn't done a damn thing for Alaska in the past 90 days and she's supposed to be running the place.

Yeah and how much help to Illinois has Obama been recently? Running for office kinda takes a person out of commission for a bit. None of the candidates have been able to do their regular jobs while heavily running. And I'm sure Alaska's been fine.

 

[Silence]

She cost him independents though.

I think McCain cost HIMSELF independents as much as she cost him those votes.

She looked unprepared don't get me wrong but McCain's own erratic and chaotic behavior is ultimately cost him the election. The fact that he couldn't reign in his own running mate spoke volumes.

 

[Silence]

Yeah and how much help to Illinois has Obama been recently? Running for office kinda takes a person out of commission for a bit. None of the candidates have been able to do their regular jobs while heavily running. And I'm sure Alaska's been fine.

well, there is a difference between a gov and a senator....just ask the McCain camp. Apparently being a Senator isn't all that important

 

[Mad Scientist]

Gov. Palin is the reason I voted for McCain. McCain lost votes for McCain.

 

[Durnesque]

well, there is a difference between a gov and a senator....just ask the McCain camp. Apparently being a Senator isn't all that important

They're more easily replaced anyway... and who's gunna miss one out of 100?

 

[Silence]

They're more easily replaced anyway... and who's gunna miss one out of 100?

exactly! IL still had the Senior senator, Dick Durbin working on their behalf..the ship wasn't adrift without direction. It's all good.

I do wonder who will replace Obama for the last 2 years of his term

 

[Modbert]

exactly! IL still had the Senior senator, Dick Durbin working on their behalf..the ship wasn't adrift without direction. It's all good.

I do wonder who will replace Obama for the last 2 years of his term

Oprah.

 

[N4mddissent]

I can't imagine her being nearly as magnanimous as McCain if she spoke that night. We saw a glimpse of the McCain many of us miss last night, a McCain that made a brief appearance at the Alfred E. dinner. I think it would have metaphorical of the split within McCain as he tried to appeal to the base and maintain his historical moderate perspective if she gave a rousing, far-right pep-speech followed by his respectful, classy call for unity and reconciliation. I'm glad she wasn't allowed to give a speech. She is too devisive and I suspect I would have ended last night feeling a little less hopeful than I did.

 

[Coloradomtnman]

Gov. Palin is the reason I voted for McCain. McCain lost votes for McCain.

Then you must REALLY be a mad scientist!

 

[Caligirl]

You know, I wonder what role Trig played in the quiet recesses of Palin's mind during this whole thing.

If it were me (and it wasn't, obviously) I would have wondered why God had given me this child with special needs, and why God had asked this child to bear special needs. I would have tried to see a greater purpose in it.

Getting the nomination for VP would have seemed like a signal to me, from God, for the non-rational part of my brain that I listen to now and then. I would have thought that we had been blessed with Trig for this special journey to the white house, to stand up for pro life, and to show the american people that it could be done.

Losing the election and going back to Alaska with my special needs baby would be very hard, as it would seem like the meaning that had appeared so suddenlyas a reason for this child, would have been pulled out from underneath me.

As a mom who has had a child with birth defects, and who tried for a very long time to make sense of it, my heart goes out to Palin-the-mother with this set of challenges on her plate.

(of course that does not in any way mean that she should have been voted in.)

 

[DavidS]

Yeah and how much help to Illinois has Obama been recently? Running for office kinda takes a person out of commission for a bit. None of the candidates have been able to do their regular jobs while heavily running. And I'm sure Alaska's been fine.

There are two senators from Illinois. Can you name for me every single bill that Obama has missed or not voted on since he ran for president?

 

[oreo]

Sarah Palin has absolutely nothing to apologize for. McCain could not have won this election with anyone on his ticket. Sarah Palin, basically an unknown before this, was his only chance. She energized the republican base, something of which John McCain could not do. The day after she was announced 40% more money came into the campaign.

The vicous-hateful-false attacks on Sarah Palin & her family were unbelievable. She was not prepted for this. She was a governor of the State of Alaska one day, the next day, national news had micro-phones in her face, asking her questions that no one could answer, if they were not prepared. They deliberately made her look stupid by asking her U.S. Constitutional law questions, & made certain that they did not ask her questions that they knew she could easily answer.

If anyone is responsible for loosing votes it is John McCain himself, & the way his campaign ran this election. For instance, I was facinated that John McCain would not call out Criss Dodd, Barney Franks & others for refusing to tighten regulations on Freddie/Fannie after repeated warnings. His campaign really blew it there.