Absolutely!

“But I believe she was begged, seduced, manipulated, strongarmed into running with him. Because , looking back and knowing what we know now, why else would she run? It was a dynamic, exciting something new, fresh, new face, bla bla bla”

I agree those were the reasons she was picked, but I think once asked she was delighted to see herself just a heart beat away from the oval office.

“and without palin, mccain would have thrown in the towel BEFORE election day. So,,,,,,,there is my 2 cents”

I think McCain did throw in the towel before election day.

Certainly I can’t imagine her coping with the kind of personal criticism that comes with the office of president.

As for attacks on her family – she put them in the spotlight. I’m not condoning the nasty behavior of some, but it exists, that’s reality and to be expected.

I found the initial blogs about the baby appaling.But I haven’t seen anything about Trig lately. I saw a cartoon of Palin holding a baby with someone else’s face pasted on it. A cartoon. I did not feel it was a trig slam. I had a downes syndrome brother. I am also a mother. Dave Letterman should have been and was called on his jokes. But she also agreed to parade her family across that stage day after day. It was about appearance’s. Of course it became an issue when it appeared the one daughter was pregnant after Palins strong stance on abstinence. Abstinence is a no brainer for birth control but it is not realistic. I doubt that pregnancy was the result of rape.
How you look is one thing, how you behave is another in context of your beliefs. Espiecally if you actively promote those beliefs and hope to convince the general population and legislate them. Behavior is a fair target in politics.

Palin does not make sense to me in the role as a leader. I agree that she may be more effective in other ways. Somewhere where her understanding of ethics won’t be challenged. She claimed the ruling on the troopergate charges “vindicates” her. She said that the investigation found “no unlawful or unethical activity on my part.” In those findings Page 8, Finding Number One of the report says: “I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act.”

In plain English, she did something “unlawful.” She broke the state ethics law.
She also claimed “there was no abuse of authority at all in trying to get Officer Wooten fired.”

In fact, the report concluded that “impermissible pressure was placed on several subordinates in order to advance a personal agenda, to wit: to get Trooper Michael Wooten fired.”

So I guess we have to wait and see what shakes out on this one.