Still 'None of the Above'

While McCain-Palin is a much more effective electoral pairing than McCain-Romney or McCain-Lieberman would have been, it must also be acknowledged that a McCain-Palin administration will not be substantively different than a McCain-Romney or a McCain-Lieberman one. While Sarah Palin will indubitably look better at state funerals than the older male alternatives, it's impossible to argue that John McCain will be any less likely to invade sovereign nations, increase government spending or grant immigration amnesties to invaders from the Third World due to her holding down the vice presidency.

Vox Day

Republican rank-and-filers aren't generally any smarter than their Democrat counterparts when it comes to electoral politics. They are considerably and reliably more gullible. I've seen Internet detritus floating around that urges people to vote for Palin, even if they don't like McCain. It's usually accompanied by one or more of the doctored photos that have been making the rounds. Sometimes there is even a snarky comment about McCain's age and likelihood of kicking the bucket while in office. This is all mere wishful thinking. McCain will still be the guy in the oval office, even though naive pubbies convince themselves they are pulling the lever for Palin.

Time and time again, Republican conservatives have fallen blindly for the blandishments of party elitists. They supported the hopelessly unelectable Bob Dole because the elders declared Pat Buchanan to be unelectable. They bought into the idea that George W. Bush was the second coming of Ronald Wilson Reagan, not the bastard stepchild of Woodrow Wilson and Lyndon Baines Johnson that he turned out to be. They refused to back Ron Paul, the lone champion of the Constitution contesting the nomination, and got the architect of the McCain-Feingold limitations on free speech.

I have to wonder sometimes at the masochism of pubbie True Believers, especially as I watch them line up once again for the inevitable ideological smack-down headed their way once McCain has conned them out of their vote and is free to unfurl his blatantly fascist flag once again.