Palin is Costing McCain?
By Alan Stewart Carl | Related entries in 2008 Election, McCain, Palin, Polls
In the last few days, I’ve had several Republican-leaning friends and family members tell me they were sitting this election out. The reason? They can’t vote for Sarah Palin.
I figured this was just an anecdotal coincidence, but then I saw a new CNN / Opinion Research Corporation poll that indicates Palin may be costing John McCain points:
“Just after the GOP convention in early September, 53 percent said they would vote for Palin over Joe Biden if there were a separate vote for vice-president. Now, Biden would beat Palin by 12 points if the running mates were chosen in a separate vote,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.
And what if voters were allowed to vote for president separately?
“It would be a four-point edge for Barack Obama, 52 percent to 48 percent. Since the McCain/Palin ticket is currently getting 46 percent in a match-up against the Obama/Biden ticket, it looks like Palin’s presence on the GOP ballot is taking two percentage points away from McCain. In a close race, that might represent the margin of victory,” adds Holland.
Even without Palin, McCain is trailing Obama by 4 points. But the possibility that Palin is actually costing the ticket 2% all but ruins the argument that energizing the base was more important than playing to the middle and/or choosing experience over image. What good is attracting partisan crowds if the larger public rejects you?
I guess Palin supporters could argue that the media’s harsh coverage of her is to blame for these new numbers. But for all the pitchfork waving in some quarters of the press, Palin did far more damage to herself by stumbling through her few interviews and by choosing not to hold any press conferences or appear on the Sunday news shows. She allowed the media and the late-night comics to define her. And now that seems to be costing the ticket.
This entry was posted on Monday, November 3rd, 2008 and is filed under 2008 Election, McCain, Palin, Polls. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
November 3rd, 2008 at 9:38 am
McCain made a fatal blunder with his selection of Palin, and it’s really a shame because John McCain is an honorable, capable candidate in many respects. McCain could have easily chosen a candidate who would have energized the conservative base, while also being intelligent and capable with an established record in government. Tim Pawlenty from Minnesota was an obvious choice. Kay Bailey Hutchinson from Texas is another. I hate to say it; but McCain acted like an adolescent jock going after the popular cheerleader in his inexplicable selection of Palin. He didn’t allow his own campaign to vet her properly, and he put her on the ticket after a single, short interview which couldn’t have covered substantive issues.
It would have been ideal to have a clear choice between two strong tickets in this important election cycle. Obama picked a strong, capable, VP candidate. McCain did not, and even McCain must know that in retrospect. It’s very unfortunate, and definitely will cost McCain the election (rather than the issues being paramount). The only good that can come of this is that perhaps Palin will be voted out of office in Alaska after her first term has concluded. America has long been accused by people in other nations of favoring style over substance. McCain definitely didn’t do anything with his horrible VP choice to dispel that notion. It’s just a terrible blunder on McCain’s part.