One of the things that really killed McCain was that he moved from his 2000 positions in order to placate his handlers. In 2000, he basically told the religious right what to do with themselves, but he lost the candidacy, therefore people told him he had to cater to the religious, even though McCain himself really isn’t that strongly religious, so he kissed priestly backside and appointed a completely unqualified religious zealot as a running mate to score brownie points with the fundigelicals. Had he stood his ground, had he appointed someone like Mitt Romney, an expert on the economy, had he actually attacked the Bush policies that have gotten us into this mess, rather than all the ridiculous “socialist” crap he pulled late in the campaign, he might have had a better showing.

In the end, he got what he deserved and so did Palin.