Quote:
Originally Posted by Pete
The Republican base was not all that hot on McCain to begin with. Those to the right of the base were the Ron Paul, Barr (gave NC to Obama), Keyes voters. None, maybe one, would have gone for the "Moderates" of McCain/Lieberman.
The left? Go for McCain/Lieberman over Obama? Not a chance. Too many stars in their eyes.
So you have the "moderates" in the middle. That would have been like herding cats. They could have pulled some of the middle votes but not enough to get elected. Might have flipped a state or two to the Republican Camp but that's about it.
Don't think McCain didn't do a little polling prior to picking Palin. I bet he ran a few polls asking about an Independent before he started putting away some Primary States. After that I'll bet he did some polling on McCain / Leiberman before picking Palin.
The middle don't have enough to get elected - just to be spoilers.
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You make some very good points, and I concede that McCain probably would not have won, but still I wonder if it would have caused a few more on the left to vote for him because he isn't as radical as Obama and they like Lieberman, and a few more on the right, who were tired of Bush policies and didn't truly like McCain therefore they voted Obama, to vote for say Romney.
I suppose we could do all sorts of counter factuals, might be interesting.
My fear with the current administration is the middle is being further polarized. Those that consider themselves right of center, but can't stand Obama's spending being pushed into the far right because they feel it is the only way to counter him. Or those left of center who don't ascribe to the Rush Limbaughs or Sean Hannities of the world, and feel Obama is not getting a fair shake by the right, pushing them further left.
The next two years are going to be interesting.