Does McCain regret picking Palin over Romney?

[44Thrilla]

Now that the economy has gone from an important issue to the only issue, don't you think McCain would be better off with Romney on the ticket? Romney's knowledge of economic issues and his experiences make him more qualified to speak intelligently and capitalize on the issue that is going to decide this election. He probably would have embarrassed Biden in the debate, and independent voters would have a better reason to trust McCain with the potential depression on the horizon.

Romney is also an "outsider", so the Obama campaign wouldn't have been able to tie him to Bush policies or blame him for what has already happened.

 

[Denny Crane]

Two things that are obvious from the recent debates. The word "maverick" makes peoples' eyes glaze over, if not pisses them off. And Obama trying to tie McCain to Bush is having a quite similar effect.

No, McCain doesn't regret picking Palin over Romney.

I caught a few minutes of Bill O'Reilly's show (to see Dennis Miller) and he was ranting about the lack of anger on the parts of both McCain and Obama about the AIG guys getting $37B in bailout and then going to some luxury spa at the cost of ~$.5M.

He suggested McCain should trot out Rudy and tell everyone he's going to be Attorney General and he's going after those clowns. And to trot out Romney as proposed Secy. of Treasury to handle the fiscal mess the democrats made the last 2 years.

 

[CelticKing]

Romney for 2012!!!

 

[44Thrilla]

And Obama trying to tie McCain to Bush is having a quite similar effect.

I admit it does have that effect on me, but I think it is connecting with average voters. There is no real reason for voters to take the economic status of the country out on McCain, but they are doing it in large numbers. I think people always thought of McCain as the "maverick" but Obama/Biden has done a good job of tricking voters into thinking he's the second coming of George Bush. Obama is successfully running against Bush without Bush's name on the ballot.

 

[Denny Crane]

I admit it does have that effect on me, but I think it is connecting with average voters. There is no real reason for voters to take the economic status of the country out on McCain, but they are doing it in large numbers. I think people always thought of McCain as the "maverick" but Obama/Biden has done a good job of tricking voters into thinking he's the second coming of George Bush. Obama is successfully running against Bush without Bush's name on the ballot.

I've been seeing polling data that shows that trying to tie McCain to Bush has a negative effect for Obama.

The 90% of the time is meaningless - the 10% of the time he's not voted with Bush is interesting, it could be the 10% that Bush has actually been wrong.

The election is still along party lines with Obama ahead with the independents. The election is not a lock until the votes have been counted on Nov 4. There's a lot of early voting going on these days and that favors Obama (see the current polls). And then there's Obama's ACORN organization being investigated for vote fraud in two states now (Ohio and Nevada); those votes can certainly skew the election.

People talk about voters as sheep, falling for which guy they'd like to have a beer with. If that's a real concern, then bribing homeless people and others who aren't following the election at all, driving them to the polling place to vote for a specific candidate, should really be a problem.

I don't have a problem with registering people to vote. I do have a problem with buying a homeless person a carton of cigarettes to vote for a candidate.

 

[CelticKing]

I admit it does have that effect on me, but I think it is connecting with average voters. There is no real reason for voters to take the economic status of the country out on McCain, but they are doing it in large numbers. I think people always thought of McCain as the "maverick" but Obama/Biden has done a good job of tricking voters into thinking he's the second coming of George Bush. Obama is successfully running against Bush without Bush's name on the ballot.

I personally blame the people for believing into that. They trust the media and the polls a lot more than they should.

But yeah it looks like Obama will win.

 

[Денг Гордон]

Sarah Palin's favorability is at -17 net now, and dropping. Yes, of course he regrets picking her.

 

[Denny Crane]

Sarah Palin's favorability is at -17 net now, and dropping. Yes, of course he regrets picking her.

She's still drawing bigger crowds than Obama these days, and the VP debate drew a huge audience on TV - more than Obama's debate with McCain.

Of course he doesn't regret picking her. Without her energizing the base, there'd be zero chance of winning.

 

[Real]

He suggested McCain should trot out Rudy and tell everyone he's going to be Attorney General and he's going after those clowns.

One problem with that: Rudy is going to run for Gov. of NY in 2010.

 

[huevonkiller]

She's still drawing bigger crowds than Obama these days, and the VP debate drew a huge audience on TV - more than Obama's debate with McCain.

Of course he doesn't regret picking her. Without her energizing the base, there'd be zero chance of winning.

Palin has cost McCain the election if anything. It was always a risky move and "epic fail" was always on the table. After the Dem primaries McCain had always kept it close, now that isn't the case.

 

[44Thrilla]

She's still drawing bigger crowds than Obama these days, and the VP debate drew a huge audience on TV - more than Obama's debate with McCain.

Of course he doesn't regret picking her. Without her energizing the base, there'd be zero chance of winning.

The TV ratings had more to do with people wanting to see how stupid she would look. Most people aren't enamored with her, they are enamored with making fun of her.

Also, on the crowd numbers, I don't know where you've been getting your information from because that stuff is impossible to determine. I know that I attended an Obama rally in Manchester, NH and I read various reports and even heard on FNC that only a few hundred people attended. Here is a pic that I took and you judge for yourself if that is true:

Fact is that tickets are generally not given out to these events so actual numbers do not exist.

My point of asking the question had to do with economic issues, though, not popularity. The failed economy has killed McCain's chances and Palin being on the ticket has no effect on people's general confidence in him to get us out of the current crisis. Romney, on the other hand, would inspire confidence in voters due to the fact that the economy is his strong point, which is something that cannot be said about McCain, Obama or Biden.

 

[Denny Crane]

Palin speech:

 

[Denny Crane]

Palin in Jacksonville FLA yesterday:

 

[44Thrilla]

Your point is......?

 

[Denny Crane]

Palin crowd of 17,000 in Missouri a week ago:

 

[Denny Crane]

My point is that almost any other VP pick and there would not be these kinds of crowds.

 

[44Thrilla]

My point is that almost any other VP pick and there would not be these kinds of crowds.

It may be true, but it doesn't address the question about the economy or the fact the the crowd numbers are mostly bogus.

 

[Denny Crane]

It addresses the question of this thread. He doesn't regret picking her. That notion is beyond wishful thinking - it's just another smear attempt against her.

 

[44Thrilla]

It addresses the question of this thread. He doesn't regret picking her. That notion is beyond wishful thinking - it's just another smear attempt against her.

No smear attempt here. That's a ridiculous assumption. I clearly stated Romney's strength on the economy as my reason for asking the question, and I haven't attacked Palin in any way in this thread.

Bottom line is, if the GOP primary was going on right now, McCain wouldn't stand a chance against Romney.

 

[huevonkiller]

It addresses the question of this thread. He doesn't regret picking her. That notion is beyond wishful thinking - it's just another smear attempt against her.

Why is he getting destroyed in the polls then? She draws Republicans, that's pretty much it. She's also gotten exposed with her terrible interviewing skills.

 

[Denny Crane]

If she didn't draw republicans, imagine how much worse it would be. No way Romney draws crowds like this or energizes the base.

 

[Claud]

My point is that almost any other VP pick and there would not be these kinds of crowds.

People come because they want to see her. They want to hear what she has to say because they want to see if she does or does not have the qualifications to be VP.

The media has sexed her up. "Sexy Sarah"---who wouldn't want to see that? Tina Fey doing her immitation of her also aids people wanting to see her. She is like an overnight celebrity. That's why there are so many people going. Sex sells.

:EDIT: and that, I think, does hurt them in the long run.

nu cue lur

 

[44Thrilla]

If she didn't draw republicans, imagine how much worse it would be. No way Romney draws crowds like this or energizes the base.

What's with your sudden fascination with crowd sizes? I seem to remember you mocking the notion that crowd sizes mean anything when Obama was drawing thousands and McCain was appearing in New Orleans in front of 50 people. McCain put out those 'celebrity' ads and you thought they were a great criticism of him. Now, all of a sudden, crowd sizes are a positive thing and proof that Palin was a better pick as VP?

 

[Denny Crane]

What's with your sudden fascination with crowd sizes? I seem to remember you mocking the notion that crowd sizes mean anything when Obama was drawing thousands and McCain was appearing in New Orleans in front of 50 people. McCain put out those 'celebrity' ads and you thought they were a great criticism of him. Now, all of a sudden, crowd sizes are a positive thing and proof that Palin was a better pick as VP?

Crowd size means you get to directly address that many people, nothing more, nothing less.

If McCain were doing his speeches in front of 2,000 sized crowds instead of 20,000 sized crowds, he'd certainly be doing worse in the polls.

Crowd size as an indication of a candidate's qualifications is meaningless.

 

[porky88]

My point is that almost any other VP pick and there would not be these kinds of crowds.

It's all republicans though. You have her campaigning in Northern Florida which is mostly red, Missouri which is well normally a red state, and I even read she was sent to Nebraska which is red.

She excites the base and gets them out, but she isn't helping him in the polls. Just like all the liberals going to see Obama. It's all democrats or mostly.

As for the question. I don't think he regrets choosing her because I think his hands were tied. He wanted Libberman and that would of been a disaster at the convention. I think McCain thinks he made the right choice considering the circumstances.

 

[Black Republican]

Nah, can u imagine 2 rich white guys?

 

[Денг Гордон]

Palin's now at -20 favorability. Although it's difficult to tell whether she is dragging down the ticket, since McCain has a -10 favorability.

Joe Biden now has a higher favorability than Barack Obama. Now that's a great VP pick right there. With the economic crisis here, it seems that Biden is really resonating with voters, as a guy who doesn't have a lot of money.