What indication does ANYONE have that any of these scandals will hurt McCain?

[KansasVoter]

I think the GOP fans will not care. She is anti everything they hate.

[Seen the light]

1. It's the moderates/independents that will be hugely turned off by her

This is already being reflected in polling.

[skooooo]

5. And there goes the election....

That was McCain's only chance, and he's thrown that away.

[book_worm]

2. maybe gop fans but I think independents who decide the election will look at Palin and say

"Oh my Gawd!" what a disaster.

[thunder rising]

3. Obama reached 50% today!

[eshfemme]

4. Ooh, what poll??

[NotThisTime]

18. 58% favorability, +8 CBS poll, +6 Gallup poll

[Iris]

6. You make a good point. I listened to some spin on talk radio and the host was saying how

the daughter is loved by her family and will have a baby that she loves and who's grandparents will love him. Of course, the thinking ones among us would ask, "What about the girl who got abstinence only education, ended up pregnant, and does NOT have the entire GOP in her corner?"

[PATRICK]

7. Rule one

This Veep hurts and consumes the campaign. Major major disaster. Even a GOOD choice that swamps the nominee's boat drowns him. McCain looks drowned out and lost. This rocket is exploding on the launch pad.
In the fifties we admired the expensive fireworks as millions of tax dollars couldn't get the firework past the prairie dog level.

From here he moves to McGovern territory of getting a new Veep and totally ANGERING Palin's base. Avoidung that worse than McGovern result he soldiers on into unchartered waters of utter campaign madness, overshadowed by his own mistake personified.

I predict in two weeks we will know more about Palin's positions on issues(inconsisten or horrible) than we ever knew, or will know, about McCain's. And nobody will be left who will care much either.

[Errrica]

8. Exactly... The Independents.

Especially after it was confirmed that her teenage daughter is pregnant. People who are big on the "family values" crap McLame has been trying to sell will be turned off by that. The brain-washed RW won't care, but the moderates will. I don't think they'll feel comfortable with Palin being a heartbeat away from the presidency. I know I wouldn't.

[WeDidIt]

9. She's Anti-America

BEing a member of the AIP makes her a secessionist and that is NOT putting country first.

[PATRICK]

10. Rule one

This Veep hurts and consumes the campaign. Major major disaster. Even a GOOD choice that swamps the nominee's boat drowns him. McCain looks drowned out and lost. This rocket is exploding on the launch pad.
In the fifties we admired the expensive fireworks as millions of tax dollars couldn't get the firework past the prairie dog level.

From here he moves to McGovern territory of getting a new Veep and totally ANGERING Palin's base. Avoiding that worse than McGovern result he soldiers on into unchartered waters of utter campaign madness, overshadowed by his own mistake personified. At least McGovern's convention was working until after the mental history story broke. The GOP Convention, the whole party campaign, has fizzled on the platform. Even the hurricane distraction withered enough not to cover it up. McCain has allowed this one process to sink everyone. All that is left from here on is a shell of pianfully transparent gimmicks and fraud. At this point the MSM must feel the fear.

I predict in two weeks we will know more about Palin's positions on issues(inconsisten or horrible) than we ever knew, or will know, about McCain's. And nobody will be left who will care much either.

[PolNewf]

11. It helps by making Palin's views more widely known

Such as her radical abortion stance:
-Not supporting abortion even if her daughter was impregnated by rape. (That is a Dukakis question waiting to happen)
-Only supporting abortion if the mother is going to die

Her abstinence only birth control views, and her own example of how those views do not work.

The far right will twist this around, ignore the pre-marriage sex abspect, and proclaim this as a victory "for life" because it is in their political interests to do so. Moderates will not be so accommodating.

[Orangepeel]

12. The scandals won't hurt him directly. But indirectly, they very well might

The more things that come out about Palin, the more problematic it is that he made the decision rashly and without proper groundwork. That perception fits neatly into existing negative images of McCain. He's hotheaded and not particularly smart. He'll be just like Bush, rushing to make poor decisions based on his "gut" instead of facts.

Over time, that might hurt.

You are right that "GOP fans" won't care. He picked her to rally his base, after all. But GOP fans are only about 30% of the country (the same 30% that still approve of bush).

[HooptieWagon]

20. Very true

The Palin pick seriously calls into question his judgement, and why he couldn't get it right despite 6 months to vet and pick a veep. Yeah, the kool-aid drinkers will rationalize and still vote R, but the moderates are all sitting back saying "WTF?".

[seabeyond]

13. lets see, first day of their convention,.... how is it going for them? n/t

[Motown_Johnny]

14. Forcing them to answer to scandals takes time away from their talking points and counter attacks

[beac]

15. My father lives in a VERY GOP-heavy area

(and proudly sports a 'Veterans for Obama' bumpersticker!) and when I asked him about the reaction to Vice President Clampett, he said "about what you'd expect... TOTAL HORROR." The GOPs in his town are fiscal rather than social conservatives. Palin is a BIG disappointment to them.

[D23MIURG23]

16. Noone knows who she is so moderates/independants are looking for info.

All the stuff comming out about her is a turn off, and to top it off, Palin is a featherweight. These scandals are going to isolate the 29%ers from everyone else in the electorate, and they are called 29%ers for a reason.

[WeDidIt]

17. FIRST Secessionist Nominee Since Reconstruction

'Nuff Said.

[qwlauren35]

19. Their base is fractured, so its an unanswered question.

Their ticket is now reasonably "balanced". McCain leans a bit more left than Republicans like, but Palin is handily in the rightest of right corners.

If it pulls out Christian Republicans from every nook and cranny of the US, then we're dead if we stay home. And we have plenty of people who say that they will "hold their nose" when they vote for Obama. And do not plan to actively campaign for him.

I think we are HOPING that this will implode. But it's not guaranteed.