Thank You, Mrs. Palin

Sarah Palin must be one sorry woman.

Governor Earmark said this morning on MSNBC "If I cost John McCain even one vote, then I am sorry about that."

Here are a few opinion polls of the presidential race taken in late October which gave a good idea of voter about about the Alaska governor:

-Please tell me whether you agree or disagree with each of the following candidates on the issues that matter the most to you. . . For Joe Biden: 59% agree, 40 percent disagree; for Sarah Palin: 42% agree, 56% disagree.

-Please tells me whether you agree or disagree that each of the following candidates has the personality and leaderhip qualities a president should have.. Biden: 67%, has qualities, 31%, does not have qualities; for Sarah Palin: 37%, has qualities, 63%, does not have qualities.

-Do you think Joe Biden is prepared for the job of vice president,or isn't he? 74% prepared, 28%, not prepared, 8% unsure.
-Do you think Sarah Palin is prepared for the job of vice president, or isn't she? 35% prepared, 59% not prepared, 6% unsure.

-If you could vote separately for VICE PRESIDENT, would you be more likely to vote for Joe Biden, the Democrat, or Sarah Palin, the Republican? Biden, 54%; Palin, 37%; neither/other, 3%; unsure, 6%.

If this isn't evidence enough, Roger Simon explained it very clearly this morning in politico:

But a global economic meltdown — plus a shooting war in two countries — helped make superior knowledge seem like a good idea, and the ticket of Obama and Joe Biden seemed smarter than McCain and Sarah Palin.

Could McCain still have won by doing things differently? It is impossible to know, but at least two things will be argued about for a long time:

First, McCain could have picked a different running mate. Though Sarah Palin was certainly a shot of adrenaline into the Republican National Convention, nobody was looking very far down the road. By picking Palin, McCain surrendered his chief argument to voters: that he was a “steady hand on the tiller” and, therefore, a safer choice than Obama. McCain might be a steady hand, but Palin clearly was not, and when you are a 72-year-old nominee, voters are going to look at your running mate pretty closely. If McCain had selected former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, or even Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, he might have done better.

Blame it all on the economic calamity- but if John McCain hadn't selected Sarah Palin, it might not be the senator from Illinois celebrating today.