# Would Sarah Palin have overshadowed a McCain presidency? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 9, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-sarah-palin-have-overshadowed-a-mccain-presidency/535477 "2010-04-09T01:11:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-sarah-palin-have-overshadowed-a-mccain-presidency/535477/1 "2010-04-09T01:11:05Z")
Just a thought I had, a “what if.” What if McCain had won the 2008 election? Sarah Palin seems to be mainly interested in herself, and being in the media, and doesn’t really seem like the type to play second violin, so to speak. Would she have dominated the media attention in a McCain administration? I think she would have. I also think she would have quit being VP with the same alacrity she showed in quitting as governor when someone waved some $ in her face. Thoughts? To mundane for G.D.? My other thought is that this is something that will color her future political possibilities, if she has any. I think she would have to be the main name on the ticket. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-sarah-palin-have-overshadowed-a-mccain-presidency/535477/2 "2010-04-09T01:21:01Z")
I don’t think she would have quit the V.P. for money but I do think she would have done her own thing once in office. I can’t see her toeing a line she doesn’t have to. Sometimes I wonder if McCain isn’t almost grateful he lost, just so he doesn’t have to put up with that particular thorn in his side for 4 years straight. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-sarah-palin-have-overshadowed-a-mccain-presidency/535477/3 "2010-04-09T01:27:04Z")
I think she would have been another Dan Quayle, to be honest. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Dick\_Dastardly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c4cdca/32.png) [@Dick\_Dastardly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dick_Dastardly)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-sarah-palin-have-overshadowed-a-mccain-presidency/535477/4 "2010-04-09T01:47:23Z")
If she’d stepped out of line, done any grandstanding for the base and what have you she’d have been destroyed by the media. And if she hadn’t stepped out of line then right now she’d have been written off by her current supporters as just another bailout-supporting, cap-and-trade supporting faux Republican, the policies (amongst others) that candidate Palin was fully on board with. Her approval rating would be Cheney-like already. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-sarah-palin-have-overshadowed-a-mccain-presidency/535477/5 "2010-04-09T01:54:12Z")
I think the country was spared an utter disaster with Sarah. Palin, FoxNews and the Teabaggers are going to destroy what is left of the Republican Party. I predict Republican losses in Nov and a crushing in 2012. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-sarah-palin-have-overshadowed-a-mccain-presidency/535477/6 "2010-04-09T01:55:27Z")
Anyone who speaks ill of Joe Biden should be directed to this thread and reminded of the dodged bullet. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2010, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-sarah-palin-have-overshadowed-a-mccain-presidency/535477/7 "2010-04-09T04:10:48Z")
Very doubtful. A President trumps anyone in the room. Vice Presidents who’ve tried to outshine their Presidents have gotten stepped on quickly. Palin is now making the circuit of media events because she presumedly is preparing for a 2012 run. But if MCain had won, he’d be the defacto candidate. And Palin, as VP, would be the likeliest front runner for 2016. She wouldn’t need to be out stumping for media attention. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-sarah-palin-have-overshadowed-a-mccain-presidency/535477/8 "2010-04-10T01:12:00Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Very doubtful. A President trumps anyone in the room. Vice Presidents who’ve tried to outshine their Presidents have gotten stepped on quickly. > > Palin is now making the circuit of media events because she presumedly is preparing for a 2012 run. But if MCain had won, he’d be the defacto candidate. And Palin, as VP, would be the likeliest front runner for 2016. She wouldn’t need to be out stumping for media attention. Yes indeed .president Cheney had to rein in that Bush guy. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-sarah-palin-have-overshadowed-a-mccain-presidency/535477/9 "2010-04-10T02:01:23Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Palin is now making the circuit of media events because she presumedly is preparing for a 2012 run. But if MCain had won, he’d be the defacto candidate. And Palin, as VP, would be the likeliest front runner for 2016. She wouldn’t need to be out stumping for media attention. She wouldn’t need to, per se, but would that stop her? ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-sarah-palin-have-overshadowed-a-mccain-presidency/535477/10 "2010-04-10T06:26:00Z")
I don’t like McCain at all, but if she would have even tried to get out of line in the middle of the crisis, McCain would have told her he’d have her ass impeached and removed from office in a day. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-sarah-palin-have-overshadowed-a-mccain-presidency/535477/11 "2010-04-10T06:39:15Z")
A tradional role of the Veep is attack dog, should the President need one. McCain would need one, though in fact it might be said the entire GOP is an attack dog, or a pack of them. She would be pretty much doing what she is now, at least the part about stumping for Republican candidates. And we would be reading stories about the scandalous size of the VP’s clothing expenses being charged to the White House. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-sarah-palin-have-overshadowed-a-mccain-presidency/535477/12 "2010-04-10T07:45:20Z")
I think she’d have had a high old time as VP. She’d have gone globetrotting and been a cheerleader for America. And McCain would have been quietly grooming her to succeed him. McCain would have been a one-term president. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-sarah-palin-have-overshadowed-a-mccain-presidency/535477/13 "2010-04-10T07:58:53Z")
Well, grooming her as much as one can groom a wolverine. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-sarah-palin-have-overshadowed-a-mccain-presidency/535477/14 "2010-04-10T13:36:57Z")
I think she would have gotten most of the attention, though whether it is overshadowing or worse is harder to guess. Dalej42, how does a President get a Vice President impeached? ---
**Author:** ![enomaj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@enomaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enomaj)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-sarah-palin-have-overshadowed-a-mccain-presidency/535477/15 "2010-04-10T14:15:24Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Well, grooming her as much as one can groom a **wolverine**. Bolding mine. You misspelled pit bull. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-sarah-palin-have-overshadowed-a-mccain-presidency/535477/16 "2010-04-10T15:08:25Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > I think she would have gotten most of the attention, though whether it is overshadowing or worse is harder to guess. > > Dalej42, how does a President get a Vice President impeached? McCain would reach out to the Republicans in the House and Senate and tell them he doesn’t oppose the impeachment. He’d let it be known that he’ll appoint a non-controversial Gerald Ford type as a replacement VP that would draw support from both sides of the aisle.