CNN asked the same question. What do you think?

She was the nail in the coffin.

She was the nail in the coffin.

While Palin did not give the boost McCain had hoped for, the nail in the coffin was the latest economic woes.

I do not think the bottom of the ticket determined the race. If McCain chooses Romney the result today is the same. People came out and voted for the top of the ticket and Obama won the race, rather than McCain losing it. The Dems did a good job of mobilizing young voters for the first time in history. African American voters came out in HUGE numbers (I heard, not sure if true, a 300% increase compared to 2004).

No. McCain's campaign strategists were the reason.

I'm not ready to say that the Palin pick cost McCain the race, but it didn't help. On the plus side, she energized the evangelical base, on the negative, she turned off independent and moderate voters. There were many polls that showed she was a net liability.

No. The economic situation and the fact that McCain voted for the bail-out sealed the deal of his defeat. Palin was a breath of fresh air and provided much needed energy to a campaign that was faultering.

I don't think it was the only reason, but it was one of the biggest reasons.

Palin didn't cost him the election as she wasn't the one up for election, but it definetly didn't help McCain. Obama picked a much better running mate but as someone eluded to in a previous post, even had McCain picked Romney he still likely would have lost.

 

The key to this election was the Obama campaign focused on the younger population and got many to come out and vote that hadn't in previous years. IMO the younger population is what won this election for him.

While Palin did not give the boost McCain had hoped for, the nail in the coffin was the latest economic woes.

 

Maybe, but McCain didn't voluntarily choose an economic crisis.

Maybe, but McCain didn't voluntarily choose an economic crisis.

 

But McCain's stance and plans also weren't going to help the economy.

The economy crisis was the nail in the coffin.

Nope, not even close. It may have been a bigger gap without her. McCain's campaign lost him the election.

The economy crisis was the nail in the coffin.

 

Palin was a boost that simmered off as time went, but it was definitely the economy that killed McCain and reminded everyone what they were voting for, which was change. Too many continued to make this a partison election and not about policy. McCain lost this because he was in the same party as President Bush, who is being blamed for the economy.

On CNN the return was 85-15 and said Palin did him in.