If she didn't draw republicans, imagine how much worse it would be. No way Romney draws crowds like this or energizes the base.
People come because they want to see her. They want to hear what she has to say because they want to see if she does or does not have the qualifications to be VP. The media has sexed her up. "Sexy Sarah"---who wouldn't want to see that? Tina Fey doing her immitation of her also aids people wanting to see her. She is like an overnight celebrity. That's why there are so many people going. Sex sells. :EDIT: and that, I think, does hurt them in the long run. nu cue lur
What's with your sudden fascination with crowd sizes? I seem to remember you mocking the notion that crowd sizes mean anything when Obama was drawing thousands and McCain was appearing in New Orleans in front of 50 people. McCain put out those 'celebrity' ads and you thought they were a great criticism of him. Now, all of a sudden, crowd sizes are a positive thing and proof that Palin was a better pick as VP?
Crowd size means you get to directly address that many people, nothing more, nothing less. If McCain were doing his speeches in front of 2,000 sized crowds instead of 20,000 sized crowds, he'd certainly be doing worse in the polls. Crowd size as an indication of a candidate's qualifications is meaningless.
It's all republicans though. You have her campaigning in Northern Florida which is mostly red, Missouri which is well normally a red state, and I even read she was sent to Nebraska which is red. She excites the base and gets them out, but she isn't helping him in the polls. Just like all the liberals going to see Obama. It's all democrats or mostly. As for the question. I don't think he regrets choosing her because I think his hands were tied. He wanted Libberman and that would of been a disaster at the convention. I think McCain thinks he made the right choice considering the circumstances.
Palin's now at -20 favorability. Although it's difficult to tell whether she is dragging down the ticket, since McCain has a -10 favorability. Joe Biden now has a higher favorability than Barack Obama. Now that's a great VP pick right there. With the economic crisis here, it seems that Biden is really resonating with voters, as a guy who doesn't have a lot of money.
