Even if one agrees with her premise that Team McCain was dealt a poor hand last year and made things worse by infighting and poor decision-making, it’s not at all clear that if they had followed Palin’s advice, the outcome would have been different. Given her poor grasp of many issues and her tendency to make verbal gaffes, it’s not surprising that John McCain’s staff members kept her on a short leash.
If anything, reading this memoir will cause more readers to ask: What was McCain thinking? One is bemused when she writes that she wasn’t surprised that McCain picked her because “it seemed . . . like a natural progression. I’d known it was only a matter of time before others saw Alaska’s potential to contribute to America’s future. Now the time was right.’’
During Palin’s rise to the top of Alaska politics, she demonstrated an optimistic and folksy demeanor that served her well in a state that has often rewarded mavericks. While readers get glimpses of her sunny side, it’s often eclipsed by her need to give verbal payback to Alaskan and national politicians who crossed her or didn’t take her seriously enough. Also, while her press coverage wasn’t always what she might have liked, it goes with the territory of playing in the political big leagues, and it would have been more helpful to her image if she had accepted it, rather than whine about it excessively. Though her media-bashing may play well among the conservative base, it might not be the best approach for snagging centrist voters who tend to be the people whose votes decide presidential elections.
Ironically, she plays the victim card far more often than McCain ever does. Despite the five years of hell he experienced while a POW and his clashes with other Republicans, McCain seems less mad at the world than does his former running mate.
