If the campaign is her fault, then the campaign is his fault.

Yeah, but in that case it isn't the fault of the anonymous McCain aide doing the dishing.

Hey, I could see she was a whack job right from the time of the convention! Do I get a prize?

I love how some Republicans can actively fight for the election of people who they personally consider to be insane. WTF is wrong with you people???

How can you say there was no vetting? I read about how Steve Schmidt suggested that they pick her on Monday, sent a friend to meet with her on Tuesday, flew her to Arizona on Wednesday, and had John and Cindy meet with her briefly on Thursday before giving her the position, which they announced on Friday. Heck, I once got a job in less time than that!

If the situation were reversed, the "whack job" quote would be all over the news, 24/7.

They're all a bunch of "whack-offs" if you ask me. I must admit that I'm loving the end-game cannibalism!

Understandably the McCain forces in this campaign are upset by Palin's overall performance.

What did they expect?

Did they think they had there own Obama? Someone who has frankly surprised the world in his rapid ascension to the top tier of American politics.

Why would they have been under this impression?

A two term mayor of Podunk, and half term governor of the richest and least populated state in the nation. What about Sarah Palin could have influenced these men to choose her for the VP? It just doesn't make any serious sense.

'Whack job'? Huh? She seems like a normal Republican to me.

"if Sarah Palin is "a whack job," why did McCain pick her to be one 72-year-old heartbeat from the presidency?"

Because the crazy flyboy wanted to get in her pants.

McCain the mortal couldn’t mind having an attractive woman all but singing arias to his greatness. Cameras frequently capture McCain beaming like a gold-starred schoolboy while Palin tells crowds that he is “exactly the kind of man I want as commander in chief.”

This, notes Draper, “seemed to confer not only valor but virility on a 72-year-old politician who only weeks ago barely registered with the party faithful.”

http://www.kansascity.com/273/story/859510.html

Palin is a dangerous choice for VP. She is not intelligent but she is ambitious. Her small town background and evangelical out look does not make her a Harry Truman who also came from a small town and was a Christian. She is dangerous because she is out of her depth. Given the power of the presidency, if the worst happened, the nation and the world would be at risk.

In the rally speech a few minutes ago, just before I changed the channel, Palin said that there is nothing negative about telling people the things they need o know. Then she dove into her socialist/marxist rant. I'm guessing moosemeat is toxic.

If the campaign is her fault, then the campaign is his fault.

No no no. You simply don't understand. We're discussing Republicans. It is never their fault. It may take a dozen books out of Regnery to 'set the record straight,' but any failure will never be the fault of the Republicans. You are failing to admit that there are so many handy targets to take the real blame: ACORN, Obama, lefty bloggers, ActBlue, Senator Reid and House Leader Pelosi, me, you, your Mom, and of course that good old standby, 'the liberal media.'

By Gaia, the books practically write themselves.

Get with the program, man.

I suppose we'll be hearing even more of this in the coming days, with McCain/Bush loyalists holding Palin responsible for practically all of the campaign's difficulties. The argument may even have some merit.

But there's still a limit to all of this. Indeed, no matter how hard they try, it's McCain who ends up holding the bag.

The fighting isn't about McCain/Bush, and those fighting don't, probably, care if McCain gets a share of the blame for picking Palin. While, superficially, this is blamestorming about why this campaign is going badly, its not really about the past or present, its the opening salvo in the fight for the future of the Republican Party.

Palin getting blame is important, because she's perceived as being the who the social conservatives are going to be pushing for 2012. The other faction or factions don't really care if McCain also gets blame, because by 2012 he'll be irrelevant.

The point isn't to shift blame from McCain to Palin, but from their ideology to Palin. It's the ideology they want to appear blameless.

why did McCain pick her to be one 72-year-old heartbeat from the presidency?

A heartbeat can't be 72 years old.

If these folks realized how much first-class entertainment they are providing to the rest of us, they would surely shut up. Like Palin's Couric interview, this latest kerfuffle will reappear on Saturday Night Live without any editing.

I, for one, look forward to the inevitable tell-all account of all the behind the scenes shenanigans of the McCain-Palin campaign. It should be extremely entertaining.

The person who got that assignment (isn't there someone following the campaigns documenting everything for this purpose) is a really lucky one...

I think McCain misunderestimated her ambition and her stupidity and the cement mixer cocktail they make when mixed together in copious amounts.

I thought everything was Bill Clinton's fault.

When are they going to realize that someone who appears stupid and unqualified, probably is stupid and unqualified, not some under appreciated genius.

If the campaign is her fault, then the campaign is his fault.

No no no! That's FAR too clear and simple.

We need DETAILED parsing of EVERYTHING that's gone wrong -- or could go wrong -- before blame can be correctly assigned. Every detail must be examined, and every criticism explored, before any judgment can be rendered.

And transparency is crucial! If the result of the process is to be trusted, it must be conducted in the full light of day, preferably via continuous feeds to 24/7 cable news shows.

This is a historic moment for the Republican party, and indeed for the conservative movement generally. No stone can be left unturned in the search for what REALLY went wrong, and who is to blame for it.

LOL. Not anymore, AJB, not anymore.

I thought everything was Bill Clinton's fault.

Close - it's actually Hillary Clinton's fault.

"But there's still a limit to all of this. Indeed, no matter how hard they try, it's McCain who ends up holding the bag."

Steve, god love you, but THERE'S NO LIMIT TO THIS! This isn't about the kind of rigorous logic you practice here, it's about political death and poison and intrigue and hate and gossip and big heaping handfuls of...mud...that are about to be flung back and forth in the Republican party until everyone is as black as...well...YOU KNOW!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BRING IT ON!

HECKUVA JOB!

DEAD OR ALIVE!

KARL ROVE IS A GENIUS!

THE REPUBLICANS WILL RULE FOR FIFTY YEARS!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's bizarre that Republicans dont seem willing to connect the very simple dots that Mr. Benen connects in this post (and the previous one about the "diva" comment).

That said, I think cmdicely above makes an excellent point. Let them blame Palin as much as they want. If she and Bush become the faces of the evangelical know-nothing side of the Republican party, then that faction will be marginalized in the future. If the grownups can take back control of the GOP, it will be better for the country.

A GOP led by Palin might be good for Democratic political prospects, but I dont think it's truly good for the country. You never know when some dramatic event will sour the country on the Democratic Party. When/if that happens, we're all much better off if the GOP is being run by people with their feet on the ground.

I like "whack job" much better. "Diva" was sexist, and actually seemed inaccurate to me. She seems much more machiavellian than a diva usually is. But most of us have been calling her a whack job for a while.

Kind of makes one long for the good ol' days when the whole thing could be settled out in the pasture at 40 paces. Given PALINaroundwithterrorists ability with an Assault Rife, maybe it would be better if McAce choose the weapon.

My guess is that he'd choose a fighter jet. Maybe not. Given his flight record he might be better off picking a balloon full of the shit he's been flinging over the course of his smelly campaign.

Oh, and make sure if that's the case PALINaroundwithterrorists changes into something less expensive in the event that McAce launches a direct hit. We wouldn't want those Charities to have to accept a donation covered with what appears to be McAce's political future...

Does she really believe she has a chance in 2012? If McCain does lose this election, god willing, she will deserve most of the blame. Her wild Christian conservative ideas appeal to one faction of the GOP, the frickin Christian right. She has driven a divide into the GOP, that previously existed, but has grown with her insanity. I don't doubt that she is both a whack job and a diva and I would have serious doubts that the GOP would nominate her in 2012, 2016, or 2020. The GOP needs to retreats and come back as the party of Lincoln and Goldwater. I may not agree with them on most platforms but at least they wouldn't be bending over for the Christian fundamentalists.

And what if, by some unfortunate fluke, McCain actually ends up winning the election? After these quotes, and the obvious acrimony between the two camps, I can't even begin to imagine the dysfunction that would result.

It would be the one, very tiny silver lining in such a scenario. But of course, the net result would be that the country would truly suffer.

Additionally, we're told that Palin would be learning foreign policy and so forth, on bended knee, from the wise and learned McCain. But now it seems clear from these reports that Palin has no patience for McCain's wisdom. She's not interested in learning or taking advice from him, because she believes she already knows everything.

Scary.

That 'Whack Job' is McCain's self-proclaimed 'Soul Mate'. Sounds 'bout right.

"if Sarah Palin is "a whack job," why did McCain pick her to be one 72-year-old heartbeat from the presidency?"

Uh, to appeal to the base?

if Sarah Palin is "a whack job," why did McCain pick her to be one 72-year-old heartbeat from the presidency?

If I were to begin understanding the Republican mind, I hope my family would compel me to accept intervention or medication. I can think of a few answers to your question, but they all grant a level of rationality that hasn't been evident:

* McCain, realizing after he had won the nomination that Bush's botched presidency would be fatal to Republicans' hopes and plots in 2008, sought a scapegoat--someone dumb enough and loud enough to attract attention to herself and away from the prime loser.

* McCain, realizing that his own performance was destroying his hopes of destroying Obama, sought a scapegoat.

* McCain's advisers, realizing that their candidate was bound to lose, sought a scapegoat.

* McCain's advisers, finding that familiarity breeds contempt in both directions, sought a running mate who would make their cranky boss even crankier.

* The Republican (reptile)brain trust, recognizing that McCain was likely to lose but that the Republican legacy would bury him if he won, fell back naturally to a strategy of maximizing destruction, with the object of making the majority of Americans miserable for the next four years while the Democrats struggled to manage a selfish, divided, belligerent, ignorant, stubborn citizenry. McCain worked mightily to exacerbate those debilitating qualities, but Palin's embodiment and promotion of them is more fresh and pure.

It wasn't like Palin's flaws were hidden and required serious digging to find. Within a week after she was announced, most of the outline was already in place, put together by a bunch of bloggers that didn't need to travel to Alaska to discover the truth about her. (Her incoherence wasn't obvious then, but the other stories were all out before she reached the convention -- so much so that even in that week people were already arguing she had to be a 'head-fake' and that McCain would switch to someone else.)

On another topic, yes, even as a life-long Democrat, I realize the desireability of a Republican Party led by 'grown-ups.' The trouble is that there don't seem to be many around. (The few 'not too bad' Republican Senators, for example, are either too old or heading for defeat this year, while the Inhofes and Enzis and Barassos and the likes are the ones who will be re-elected. And if we will get rid of Bachmann from the House this year, Steve King and Larry MacDonald will probably remain.)

And the Lugars, Specters, Grassleys and Cochranes -- who may be wrong on most things but have a certain amount of integrity and intelligence also have too many years to serve as a focus for a semi-sane Republican Party.

Can anyone name me one Republican -- not from Maine -- who could take the party back from the current focal points, Palin the Crazy and Romney the Ultimate Empty Suit? I'd really like to see an answer to this question, because we need an "Honorable Opposition" to keep us honest.

Wait for Lieberman's GOP run in 2012!

same thing the Dems were planning to do to Hillary if Obama didn't win-make her the scapegoat.

"Palin sees herself as the next leader of the party"

God, I hope so. If this is the best the Republicans can come up with, the party can finally die in peace.

"To blame Palin is to blame McCain. If the campaign is her fault, then the campaign is his fault."

Yeh!

This is what the GOP fundies get for their coolness to Kay Bailey Hutchison as a veep candidate -- a one-way trip to oblivion.

Regarding Palin, "it is McCain who ends up holding the BAG?" Me-ow!!

So who really picked her, Rove? Rove's people? It seems certain McCain did not. So did Rove fail, yet again? Rove, darling of the Republicans, Bush's "brain"? Him being brought down a peg or two or five is a small consolation for the Bush Years.

Palin as a scapegoat allows that last niggling piece of the puzzle to slide into place. I just wasn't buying the woman element as a progressive step for the GOP of this particular set. Too out of character after watching Condi drudge for Bush for the past 8 years.

The GOP gambled, as they tend to do, and lost. But temporarily, gents...only temporarily.

Because McCain needed the base more then he needed the independent voter. He could have one or the other, he chose to throw red meat to the base with Palin. She is still super popular at rallies, right. Shows how divided the GOP is right now. The right wing is forcing him to make bad decisions.

The chose her because she's a strident social conservative, in other words, a whack job.

If this is the best the Republicans can come up with, the party can finally die in peace.

I don't want a peaceful death, I want explosions, flames, debris arcing high into the air and LOTS of collateral damage to the Party faithful, empty Party coffers and donors that don't return phone calls, don't answer mail or respond to cries for help. Let death not come easily or peacefully, but rather with as much pain, desolation, destruction, hopelessness and despair as these fascist lemmings have brought down on America these past 8 years. And let it come on the watch of the 'mavericks' who wandered so blindly into the snake pit, trying to make two broken halves into a whole that has no business being anywhere near the centers of power.

Yep, I got a grudge. =)

Sarah is not a whack-job... she is an evangenital prayer warrior!!

Sarah is not a whack-job... she is an evangenital prayer warrior!!

If this is the best the Republicans can come up with, the party can finally die in peace.

I don't want a peaceful death,

Sorry, I meant to say:"the party can finally die and leave us in peace"