Firing up the base

If John McCain was looking to fire up the conservative faithful with his Veep selection, it looks like mission accomplished.  Politico reports that since unveiling Palin on Friday, McCain has raised $7 million online -- a staggering amount for a campaign that has barely had a presence online.

Karl Rove proved in 2004 that Republicans win by identifying and turning out their base in droves, and that the base is still comprised primarily of cultural conservatives.  They've been suspicious of McCain since day one, and his internal polling must have showed that he stood little chance of winning without whipping them into a frenzy.  And McCain knew that irrespective of anything he said, he wasn't going to ignite the base -- he needed to do it with his Veep pick.

Conservative strategist Ralph Reed had this revealing quote on Politico.com: “I’ve talked to two prominent social conservative leaders in the past 24 hours who told me they had previously not planned to attend the convention, but were now coming to Minneapolis after the Palin pick.  One scrambled to find a hotel room and is coming tomorrow; the other re-arranged his schedule and is flying in Wednesday. I got a call this afternoon from an evangelical business leader who told me he was contacting the McCain campaign and offering to host a fundraiser with his friends for McCain (sans the candidate) before the Thursday deadline [when McCain shifts to the public financing system]. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a veep pick energize the grassroots like this.”

The mainstream media and liberal blogosphere is going to try and turn this into Dan Quayle II, but it looks like the McCain strategy will be to juxtapose her values with Obama's, and take that debate to the key rust belt and midwestern states like Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, where values still matter.  And in an odd way, the more the elite media piles on her (mostly for being a mom and a Governor, which for some reason they view as making her unqualified to be Veep) the more it's going to win over these values voters. 

If she turns out to be an effective campaigner -- strong on the stump, gaffe-free, aggressive, persuasive, and a good debater -- than much of the experience factor goes out the window, just as it has with Obama (somewhat).  If she turns out to be a poor campaigner, however, then it's over; it will sink the ticket.   McCain is gambling that she'll be a great campaigner -- and the early indications are that she's a pit bull in heals -- and if he's correct he'll be hailed as a genius, and if he's wrong he'll be George McGovern.

Comments

[d]

<h1>replica designer bags</h1> Affordable bags
<h1>replica designer handbags</h1> Come ah
<h1>air max 2012</h1> Favorites
<h1>nike shox turbo</h1> Discounts and more
<h1>men puma shoes</h1> Online Sales
<h1>air max 90</h1> Wholesale sales
<h1>wholesale puma shoes</h1> Wholesale sales
<h1>puma shoes sale</h1> Look comfortable
<h1>timberland mens boots</h1> Buy comfortable
<h1>gucci women shoes</h1> You are wrong?
<h1>louis vuitton outlet</h1> There must you like