McCain created Palin as a national politician; Now his staff wants her destroyed.

The destruction of Sarah Palin as a national Republican politician proceeds. Now that McCain has conceded the election, the McCain staff is really working hard to discredit Sarah Palin. Why not? They knew how she was selected and they have observed her performance closely since the Republican National Convention. She has certainly not covered herself in glory. Did McCain know what he was getting? Frankly I doubt it.

Here is a video description of the Palin mess:



Sarah Palin is now going home to Alaska. She still faces charges that she misused her office to get her ex-brother-in-law fired and her use of Republican credit to buy clothing and stuff from Nieman Marcus and other high-end stores is going to go back with her. She may have local support particularly from evangelical religious groups, but her enemies have been given a lot of ammunition. Since she won the office as a different politician who opposed the entrenched powers, she may not have a lot of clout left to use to go after those people. (I write as an outsider to Alaska politics. I do not know the details. But a maverick who replaces incumbent politicians make a lot of enemies.)

Senator Ted Stevens appears to have been reelected, but the Senate is unlikely to accept him back because of his conviction for being bribed. Alaska law requires a special election when the sitting Senator leaves office. Sarah Palin might try to run for Steven's office. Will the old-line Alaska Republican powers let her have it?

The McCain campaign staff clearly do not like or respect Palin. Their efforts to trash her started on election day. That's going to be hard for her to defeat. But she is a candidate supported by the extremist evangelical right wing, which is why she was initially selected by McCain's staff to be the Vice Presidential candidate. The extremist Evangelical right wing is apparently strong in Alaska. That's Palin's base.

Can the McCain staff destroy Sarah Palin? It's clear they don't like or respect her. Her incompetence may have been the final nail in McCain's coffin. And even if they can destroy her, will it be effective both nationally and in Alaska, or only nationally? I'd bet she is done nationally. Within Alaska she has also made a lot of enemies, but her local support may allow her to survive politically there.

I see three decision points for Sarah Palin. She needs to deal with the ethics challenges immediately. She may try to run for Stevens seat. Then she may run for reelection as governor. If I were the national Democrats I would carefully provide support to her opponents at each of those points. Palin is extremely vulnerable at each of those points.

The efforts of the McCain staff to destroy Palin is a great place to start.