Suppose for a moment that you were a typically amoral GOP operative.

[saltpoint]

In his hotel in the Twin Cities, right now, McCain convenes a panel of his staff and a few random Party heavyweights on the Palin matter.

You are a member of this panel of advisors.

McCain asks for comment from each panelist at the meeting on whether to retain Palin or implement steps to force her out.

What do you tell him?

[tekisui]

1. You're screwed, buddy!

[saltpoint]

7. : )

[d_b]

2. ^^

[sazemisery]

3. You got yourself into it, get yourself out! n/t

[WeDidIt]

4. Have the nomination go forward as planned

Have Sarah step to teh stage and make a tear filled speech about how she can no longer subject her family to the scrutiny that has so devestated her eldest daughter and that she must, for reasons of family safety and concern, decline the nomiantion for Vice President of the United States.

Insure a standing ovation.

Move to place Mitt Romney's name into nomination.

The rest is history and we can still pull this one out.

EDITED TO ADD: Bookmark this post because this is how tomorrow will go down.

[saltpoint]

10. I think your scenario is pretty plausible.

I'm somehow not seeing Gov. Palin on the ticket by the time the GOP confab wraps up on Thursday.

[tekisui]

12. Are they going to actually nominate Palin(or another VP) tomorrow?

[WeDidIt]

20. That was the original plan

Veep on Wednesday, POTUS on thrusday.

[Virginia Dare]

15. Yep. They're already going into full victim mode..

it will be blamed on Obama and his inability to control the evil liberal media and blogsphere.

[KansDem]

5. "You've got seven homes..."

"...Pick one and hide out until this thing blows over."

[Ichingcarpenter]

6. "John....... do what you normally do with your important decisions"

[saltpoint]

11. : )

Ya got to know when to hold 'em and know when to fold 'em.

[Occam Bandage]

8. Keep her in. Weather the storm; attack the media for "an unprecedentedly biased witch-hunt,"

try to turn any criticism of Sarah into an attack on families going through tough times. After a week of playing defensive, go on the attack, and start spinning a story of a resurgent McCain campaign gaining traction even despite the biased pro-Obama media.

[saltpoint]

13. Could be. That presents McCain with his best possible out.

Otherwise he is faced with dragging around an albatross like Sarah Palin or looking like a fool if he replaces her.

[Virginia Dare]

18. What they did after Kerry brought up Cheney's lesbian daughter..

went into full attack mode for a week, until Kerry finally had to apologize for bringing it up. If they have Obama apologizing for this, I give up.

[Epiphany4z]

9. I am not one

and them figure it out for themselves...lol

..I think its a lose ..lose personally..you keep her she has tons of baggage... and deep down everyone knows you are reckless and did not vett her. You drop her..you where still reckless and now your weak too.

[Lucky 13]

14. He can't yank her.

It means admitting terrible judgment. It's your first big "presidential" decision, so admitting that you blew that one won't fly. You don't get a do-over here.

If I were him, I'd stick with her, but push her way way way to the background. Minimize media contact. Only allow her to campaign in fundie country. Make her the liaison to the religious right.

Make her just a pretty face... that's all she is anyway.

Pray that she keeps her fucking mouth shut and that no one else in her family gets pregnant.

[saltpoint]

16. Palin as liaison to the Religious Right makes a lot of

strategic sense for McCain.

By minimizing to her the one area where she might actually be of some help, he could still keep her on the ticket and "move forward."

The debate with Joe Biden, however, is likely to be a real rough evening for Gov. Palin.

[Virginia Dare]

19. The polls are actually looking much worse after naming her though..

and that was before babygate. This will turn many middle of the road voters off. It's been a huge blunder strategically.

[saltpoint]

22. Hi, Virginia Dare. Yes. It would be interesting to hear

from Perkins or one of the other Far Right fundie groups on the Palin pick.

I have to guess they have been on the phone with McCain already to weigh in.

This could get real interesting real fast.

[JVS]

17. This will probably offend some people, but screw it.

Ok, so I'm an amoral Republican Epic Theater director. Palin needs to be off the ticket, but how?

What we're going to stage is a Bristol Palin suicide attempt. We claim to have found Bristol Palin ODed on sleeping pills with a suicide note claiming that the humiliation of the Democratic operatives was way too much for her to handle. While we were able to save Bristol's life, the baby was sadly lost (Those Democratic baby-killers can add one more notch to their belts ;-) ) Sarah Palin (in mourning clothes for the dead fetus) announces that her family needs her full attention at this time of crisis and denounces the Vast Left Wing Conspiracy that has torn her family to shreds. John McCain vows to avenge this affront to decency. Jeb Bush forced onto ticket by Republican power-brokers.

[saltpoint]

24. Wow. That pushes the envelope and then some.

I don't want Bristol to be in harm's way, despite the very arguably poor judgment of her parents in exposing her to the international limelight.

And I am absolutely puking with the idea that Jeb will come riding in on a white horse to save the Republicans.

But.

I'm leaning toward the McCain team finding a way to nudge Palin off the ticket. As for replacements, I suppose Jeb is a possibility, even if I hate his guts.

[JVS]

26. Oh, it would be completely fake.

She'd actually be watching TV or something after writing them the note. The miscarriage provides cover for an abortion (if she's even actually pregnant, which is questionable)

[Lucky 13]

27. You, sir, are an evil genius.

Your suggestion is totally outlandish but 1) nothing is beyond them and 2) it would work.

:scared:

You really should pursue a career in this arena. If you're not interested in being a nasty, no-holds-barred, political advisor, I at least recommend applying for a writing position with Days of our Lives.

Bravo.

[cottonseed]

21. I would suggest creating a co-president. Make the ticket 3!

And the co-president would be shared by Graham and Lieberman. They've already crossed the stupid threshold with Palin, why not go all the way.

[jberryhill]

23. I'd say this

Ditching her is worse than keeping her.

Deflect all criticism with "kids are out of bounds" and "sexism", regardless of whether the criticism is unrelated to either of those things.

That is the "forged memo" strategy. Every question about Bush's TANG service was rolled up into refutation of that one memo, and not the substance of "where was he?"

[saltpoint]

25. I could see that unfolding. It will test the skills of McCain's handlers,

and to date they haven't done very well.

Or, they've done adequately but have been undermined by McCain's prickish temperament.

I'm not sure which.

But this next period of maybe 24-48 hours is going to be a test of that team's ability to handle a real big problem.

[saltpoint]

28. I can't imagine Ralph Reed, for example, being enthusiastic about

Gov. Palin.

Does anybody know if the collective fundie community has roundly backed McCain on this one?

It doesn't seem like he's exactly won them over. The endorsements seem to be sporadic and tentative.

[Oak2004]

29. I was trained to be a completely amoral GOP operative

and I have a few low points in my history (though not very low or very many).

I'd advise keeping her in, and play the victim, blaming Obama for playing dirty and causing all of the GOP's difficulties. I would note that either choice would still leave McCain in a very poor position. But the base is behind her, and a strong counterattack gives better odds than alienating the base and admitting to a mistake.

Alternately, if the decision is to dump Palin, I'd do it quickly. I'd put the blame on Palin for lying to McCain during the vetting, and on the Dems for prying into her family life, and then I'd suggest making sure Palin get's indicted for something fraudulent by a Republican prosecutor ASAP, and make sure she is buried politically. Then I'd try to get someone very well known as my running mate, or create some sort of large media distraction (possibly with the assistance of the administration, and Palin's indictment can be part of the distraction, as long as we can spin it that everything that happened was Palin's fault), so that people forget as quickly as possible that Palin was ever chosen.

[saltpoint]

30. That sounds like strong, white-knuckled practical politics, and

I could see McCain possibly using it to somehow make it out of St. Paul in one piece.

As of tonight, it does look as if Palin may be a keeper, with all the positives and negatives that implies. I think you are right about the base -- they like her fairly well, or at least they have no clear objections to her nomination.

Also I agree that if the decision is made for her to go, it has to be done lickety-split. Like tomorrow morning at the latest, probably.