Palin’s Purge

Interesting anecdote within the great Newsweek inside the campaign series:
McCain’s advisers had been frustrated when Palin refused to talk to donors because she found it corrupting, and they were furious when they heard rumors that Todd Palin was calling around to Alaska bigwigs telling them to hold their powder until 2012. The day of the third debate, Palin refused to go onstage with New Hampshire GOP Sen. John Sununu and Jeb Bradley, a New Hampshire congressman running for the Senate, because they were pro-choice and because Bradley opposed drilling in Alaska. The McCain campaign ordered her onstage at the next campaign stop, but she refused to acknowledge the two Republican candidates standing behind her. McCain himself rarely spoke to Palin (perhaps once a week when they were not traveling together, estimated one adviser). Aides kept him in the dark about Palin’s spending on clothes because they were sure he’d be offended. In his concession speech, McCain praised Palin, but the body language between them onstage was not particularly friendly. (Palin had asked to speak; Schmidt vetoed the request.)

Both Sununu and Bradley lost their races in New Hampshire. Moreover, Palin seems to misunderstand one of the core priorities of presidential elections: building broad coalitions. As explained eslewhere in the article, many New Hampshire Republicans are in fact pro-choice. 

Democrats are not going to interrupt purging efforts like this or the one going on at Redstate. 

I’m a bit surprised that the reaction to losing an election is to shrink your coalition by kicking people out.