I am sorry for the brevity of this diary, but I just have to post how happy I am that Sarah Palin will go back to Alaska at least for the next couple of years.
Obama's resounding victory and her utter defeat, including exit polls that showed what a drag she was on McCain's ticket, will serve to hinder her chances at getting the nomination in 2012.
Pundits on both sides are suggesting McCain lost this election because of the economy and Bush. I could not disagree more. Rachel Maddow said it right tonight when she pointed out that if any republican would have had an advantage in distancing himself from Bush, it was McCain, with his "maverick" reputation--shreds of which lie on the sides of the road in swing states across this country.
McCain lost this race all on his own. He picked Sarah Palin against his own instincts. He ran on a campaign of hate and dishonor that the American people overwhelmingly rejected.
He could have voted against the bailout in keeping with his so-called claim of fiscal responsibility and anti-big government. He did not.
Had McCain run a campaign in keeping with his carefully cultivated reputation, had he stood fast to his prior principles over the last 4 years and elected to vote against Bush more than he voted for him, he would have had a much better chance--though I believe Obama still would have overcome.
I have no sympathy for John McCain and no gratitude. The division he sowed during his campaign will be an additional struggle for our new President to overcome, at a time when our country faces so many other important struggles.
I hope that in the next few years, republicans will realize that we do not need the kind of division Sarah Palin brings to every election she enters. Her kind of vile hatred--her Rove-like bitterness and frenzied attacks on the characters of good people--have no place in this country.
Goodbye Sarah Palin.
And don't forget to drop the clothes off at the Goodwill before tax time comes around.