McCain all but congratulated Obama today by pulling out of Michigan. How did we get here so quickly? I trace it back to McCain's selection of Sarah Palin. Please join me under the fold to explore how this messed up his electoral map.
John McCain spurned the boring route for the Alaska firecracker. McCain pulled all his advertising and staff from Michigan today. It's early for him to cede those 17 electoral votes.
I couldn't help thinking how much Mitt Romney would have helped in the state. Romney is from Michigan so he certainly would have kept it in play through Election Day. He was also more comfortable speaking about the economy than anyone on either ticket.
Palin energized the base until her Couric/Fey inspired freefall. McCain will win the South (except perhaps North Carolina) regardless. I'll be generous and say Palin helped consolidate conservative votes in Alaska, Missouri and Montana. That's 17 electoral votes (3+3+11). Michigan would be a much better prize because the current states are much cheaper to defend. Romney would also have helped in New Hampshire (4), Wisconsin (10) and Indiana (11).
Mitt Romney was the only Republican who scared me heading into the primaries. He was a moderate governor of liberal Massachusetts with health care and business bonafides. That was until his handlers made the disastrous decision to try and out-Jesus Huckabee. You can't play the fundamentalist religion card when you're a Mormon. You don't see Obama at the NASCAR tracks. It's not that NASCAR fans are inherently racist; they just don't typically hang out with former Harvard Law Review scholars.
Can you imagine Romney front and center during this fiscal crisis? His gravitas would woo the media. Instead McCain flails wildly and Sarah Palin deserves an Emmy for best comedy screenplay for Saturday Night Live.
The election would be much closer if McCain chose Romney. The post-convention bump wouldn't have peaked so high. Some conservatives yawn but look at how many voters Palin is repelling right now. The media would go after Obama harder in a close election.
It's a gruesome sign for McCain if he's ceding Michigan to defend North Carolina and Indiana. No Republican should be defending those states in October 2007, let alone 2008. Romney would have staved off the inevitable disaster. Too bad McCain and Romney hate each other. It's ironic since Romney helped McCain win the nomination.