I live in a red town in a blue State (New Jersey). So, I have the good fortune to have Democrats running the state, but have to deal with Republicans running the town. The mayor recently got into a flap for an anti-semitic remark. The good part is that there is a growing Democratic presence and I get the chance to hear how the other side ticks.
Well, the moderate republicans in my town hated Sarah Palin.
I went over to a friend's house tonight to watch the Giants beat up on the Redskins. We are having a good time talking football, kids, etc when NBC takes a break from the game to show a shot of the RNC. That is when the conversation got interesting.
There are two Republicans in the room and both of them announced that McCain lost their votes when he chose Palin as VP and her speech did nothing to change that switch.
They both were the type of voter who were swayed by Rev. Wright and the inexperience argument. They commented that they thought Obama was disingenuous for sticking with Rev. Wright and then denouncing him. They were the type who thought that staying in a church with that kind of rhetoric was wrong. However, they both liked the Biden pick because it helped balance out Obama's perceived inexperience and they both thought that Biden helped fill that gap.
However, they hated the Palin pick. They both thought that McCain should have chosen Ridge. They thought that Palin was too inexperienced for the job and she scared them because she was so religious. After eight years of Bush, they were hoping that McCain would save the GOP from the wingnuts of the party. They felt that this pick proved McCain was no longer the guy they liked and voted for in 2000, but was really another lackey of the christian right wing.
So, to twist the knife even further, I mentioned that she tried to ban books from the library and was part of a church that welcomed in Jews for Jesus. That worked to balance of Rev. Wright in their minds. I did not even need to bring up the $20M of debt for Wasilla. They thought that the GOP had lost its marbles for cheering on the pregnancy of Bristol because it reeked of hypocrisy.
While I have always had faith that Obama would beat McCain, this certainly makes me believe that Sarah Palin is a disaster of a pick because she is alienating the moderate Republicans that McCain was counting on to win.