Posted by
Mike Bates on Wednesday, February 18, 2009 3:00:11 PM
Today on The Washington Post's front page appears the article
"Back Home in Alaska, Palin Finds Cold Comfort: Scrutiny Has Been Intense Since Election."
Staff writer Michael Leahy reports that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has had
a rocky return following her run on last year's Republican national
ticket. Writes Leahy:
A number of factors seem to have contributed to the
bumpy homecoming: a residual anger among Democrats for the attack-dog
role Palin assumed in the McCain campaign, lingering resentment from
Republicans for the part she may have played in McCain's defeat, and a
suspicion crossing party lines that the concerns of Alaska, at a time
of economic crisis, will now be secondary to her future in national
politics.
The claim that Sarah Palin hurt McCain's candidacy has been refuted
by various sources including, coincidentally enough, The Washington
Post. Chris Cillizza covers the White House for the newspaper.
Shortly after the election he cited five election myths. One of them was that McCain made a mistake by selecting Palin as his running mate:
Remember where McCain found himself this past summer. He had won the
Republican nomination, but the GOP base clearly felt little buy-in into
his campaign. A slew of national polls reflected that energy gap, with
Democrats revved up about the election and their candidate and
Republicans somewhere between tepid and glum.
Enter Palin, who was embraced with a bear hug by the party's
conservative base. All of a sudden, cultural conservatives were
thrilled at the chance to put "one of their own" in the White House. In
fact, of the 60 percent of voters who told exit pollsters that McCain's
choice of Palin was a "factor" in their final decision, the Arizona
senator won 56 percent to 43 percent.
For skittish conservatives looking for more evidence that McCain
understood their needs and concerns, Palin did the trick. It's hard to
imagine conservatives rallying to McCain -- even to the relatively
limited extent that they did -- without Palin on the ticket. And
without the base, McCain's loss could have been far worse.
A Rasmussen Reports national survey taken
immediately after the election found that 69 percent of Republicans
believed Palin helped McCain and 91 percent held a favorable view of
the Alaska governor.
Perhaps the Post article, using multiple anonymous sources to
buttress its findings, is right in the assessment of difficulties Sarah
Palin now encounters back home. The belief she hurt McCain's chances
for the White House, however, doesn't appear to be held by very many
Republicans. So why would lingering resentment be a significant
factor?