WindRider has a great analysis:
I thought McCain’s choice of Palin was absolutely brilliant, and said so at the time - and I still do think it was a brilliant pick, that was horrendously and ultimately fatally mishandled at almost every step of the way afterwards. Starting with a total disregard of the biggest reason for picking her in the first place; who she was, and what she’d managed to accomplish on her own merits - by misguidedly, awkwardly, and buffoonishly trying to desperately “re-package” her for “wider national consumption”. If she needed such a major overhaul, then what the hell did the people of Wasilla, the people of the State of Alaska, people like me, and candidate John McCain see in her in the first place? I’ll tell ya -we saw grit, determination, and a proven ability to get the job of shaking up the status quo done - which, if properly amplified, would have been absolutely more than essential for a winning effort. Instead, McCain’s boneheaded staffers imagined they had to “prepare” her, or “fix her up”, not trusting her own natural abilities as a politician to do what she’s proven she knows how to do - campaign for elected office!
BTW: That paragraph echoes my earlier comments
Posted by Vox at November 6, 2008 07:55 PM | Sarah Palin , politics