>>>>> Sarah Palin is not a Tea Partier
Wow, is that a fact, Rush? I didn't know that.
“Personal endorsements usually have little if any effect on an election. And Rush’s opinion is just that.”
I agree with that. Still , I think Rush’s opinion is entitled to a little more weigh, and as a practical matter, it carries more weight than they average Joe. I don’t think Palin’s endorsement of McCain is a black mark at ll on her record for reasons I have stated and for those Rush has stated as well.
I think it is very arguable that Reagan’s selection in the leadup to the 1976 convention of Sen Richard Scweiker as his putative running mate was more of a black mark, given that Schweiker was far more liberal than McCain (ACU rating:5%) and Reagan’s gambit, had it succeeded, would have put a very liberal Republican a heartbeat away from the Presidency, not merely reelected someone to the Senate. Reagan had no moral obligation whatsoever to Schweiker and undertook this gambit to try to pry some delegates from the Northeast to wrest the nomination from Ford. Palin’s endorsement of McCain gets her no such putative advantage and is generated not by political calculus but by a sense of personal duty.
Reagan’s deal with Schweiker did not hurt him one bit in 1980, nor will Palin’s endorsement of McCain hurt her. People understand why she did it.