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November 06, 2008
The McCain Campaign Finds its Scapegoat
Given the level of debate over Sarah Palin among conservatives, this is no surprise. I fully expected writers such as David Frum, Kathleen Parker, Christopher Buckley and Peggy Noonan to go full-bore on Palin after Tuesday's loss. I did not expect the level of insta-recrimination we're seeing from the staffers of the McCain campaign. Malkin is right - classless cowards, indeed.
McCain lost for a very simple reason - he fought the battle on the terms the media and the Obama campaign had set for him. Too many issues were off-limits or were bungled, including and especially the financial crisis and who was to blame for the policies that caused it. Instead, he blamed "Wall Street greed." McCain's refusal to lay blame where it actually existed and pound that point home again and again in speeches and ads lost him the election. Many people voted against the GOP and McCain because they wrongly blamed him and the party for the financial mess.
McCain and the GOP could have spent time correcting them. It would have been easy to say that under a Democrat administration, policies were passed that basically forced banks to lend money to those who could not afford it. Among those that pressed the hardest were Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and ACORN. The Democrat candidate received hundreds of thousands in donations from Fannie and Freddie, and hired ACORN to do campaign work. If elected, Obama would continue those policies and cause greater damage to the economy.
It's a pretty simple message, and McCain vetoed it. If the media wasn't going to report the facts, it was up to McCain to talk above them and take that message straight to the people in interviews, advertisements and speeches. The economy was the deciding factor in this election, and McCain lost that debate by not tying his opponent to the cause of the financial crisis, and not offering a plan of his own.
That decision was made by McCain and by the same group of advisers that is now trashing Palin. I'm disgusted by their behavior and disappointed by McCain's silence in the face of these smears. He should publicly call for an end to this among those who are most loyal to him. Governor Palin had to deal with enough garbage from the media and the Democrats. She should not have to now face attacks from the campaign she did so much to help. I have to say, though, she's showing more class and grace than I would at the moment.
I respect John McCain and I know at the moment he's dealing with the aftermath of a tough loss, but he needs to use his influence with those who are smearing Palin to make it stop.
Posted by slublog at November 6, 2008 08:40 AM
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Comments
It is absolutely ridiculous to trash her. Shame on McCain for not stopping it.
Posted by: Kath at November 6, 2008 10:39 AM
I agree Kath - Sarah was the one true bright spot for conservatives this year.
McCain was probably the lamest GOP candidate since ..... hmmm, Dole!
Next time we find a *REAL* conservative and run on principals instead of limp, bipartisan nonsense.
Posted by: Murph at November 6, 2008 07:13 PM
Absolutely. She was the best thing that happened to the McCain campaign. I am shocked that she is being attacked now. There was more than enough of that from the media and the left during the campaign. This is too much.
Posted by: Cheryl at November 6, 2008 07:33 PM
She can handle it. She'll be back.
Posted by: kevlarchick at November 9, 2008 02:11 PM