I’m always bemused by this type of analysis of the 2008 election from the right. In the piece Dan Riehl tries to argue the case that Palin was mismanaged by the McCain campaign, and as if they had only let Sarah be Sarah she might have saved the effort.

Bull.

While Palin energized some of the conservative base in a way McCain never could, she also solidified in the minds of many independents the idea that it would be insane to have John McCain anywhere near 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (and for any liberals not energized already by the Obama campaign, Palin had a Bush-style effect in kicking our butts into gear — she still has this effect). The minute Palin was outside of the stage-managed world of the convention, it became clear just how stupid she was, and the sort of Jerry Springer style drama she had lived in in Alaska. Her fumbling of the easiest questions asked of a presidential or vice presidential candidate – seriously, how hard charging is a question about what newspapers and magazines you read – reinforced earlier frames from the Obama campaign about McCain’s unsuitability for the Presidency.

People were inclined not to vote for John McCain, and for any voters out there whose opinions could be swayed, the choice of Palin became a concrete example of why they shouldn’t. They were willing to take the gamble on Obama, because the chaos of McCain/Palin was far too scary.

But conservatives now hold up Sarah Palin the way they hold up conservatism. We are now told that our previous, very conservative president didn’t fail due to his conservatism. Conservatism is never at fault. And in their eyes neither is Sarah Palin. Her incompetent answers, her wacky positions on policy, her inability to engage on any level resembling a serious public leader, in their eyes is not a flaw of any sort. For them, America failed Palin, not the other way around.

And if she runs in 2012 and the inevitable landslide loss for her comes, America will have no doubt failed Sarah Palin again. Thank God.

UPDATE: As is if to prove my point, Palin argues that to crack down on a nuclear Iran we have to do something about “Iraq”.

John McCain just doesn’t like net neutrality, and in order to show this McCain has introduced legislation that would effectively hand the keys to big business. Of course, as his campaign last year showed, John McCain barely understands what an Internet is, let alone give us the confidence that he knows how it should – or shouldn’t – be legislated.

But John McCain? Yeah, Carter actually won at least one of the elections for president he ran in.

In case you forgot who John McCain is:

Thanks for playing, we have lovely parting gifts.

I clearly don’t agree with John McCain on practically every issue under the sun, but I’ll say that he’s been pretty consistent in his opposition to torture and in light of Cheney’s torture defense speech today — McCain remains so. And of course it’s worth noting that in this entire debate, Sen. McCain is one of the few people discussing this issue who has actually been tortured.

The outspoken and lively 97-year-old mother of Arizona Sen. John McCain appeared Wednesday night on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and was more than willing to go where no Republican—at least publicly–seems willing to go on Rush.

“I don’t know what the man means, I don’t know what the man’s talking about,” McCain said of Limbaugh, when asked about her views on commentators on the left and right.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele had few allies earlier this year when he characterized Rush as “an entertainer” who doesn’t speak for the party. He later apologized.

Steele was “exactly right when he defined this man as an entertainer,” McCain said Wednesday. “And to my horror the Republican Party made him back up on it.”

John McCain, that great evaluator of talent who chose Sarah Palin, one of the dumbest people ever elected to office (it’s a horserace between her and Dubya) as his running mate.

Why can’t Sidney go to work cheating on his second wife rather than carping about what he would have done had over 10 million Americans not rejected his butt?

Randy Scheunemann, a senior foreign policy adviser to John McCain, was fired from the Arizona senator’s campaign last week for what one aide called ‘trashing’ the campaign staff, three senior McCain advisers tell CNN.

One of the aides tells CNN that campaign manager Rick Davis fired Scheunemann after determining that he had been in direct contact with journalists spreading ‘disinformation’ about campaign aides, including Nicolle Wallace and other officials.

I’m honestly asking.

John McCain’s first rally of the day, in Tampa outside Raymond James Stadium, only drew about 1,100 people. Local reporters noting that at almost the same spot just before the 2004 election, President Bush drew about 15,000 people. Two weeks ago, Obama drew an estimated 8,000.

Republican Gov. Crist, who had previously agreed to do interviews with CNN and various local affiliates, bolted right after the rally with no explanation.