I was making a general comment to Ned about Palin and her being the VP choice in 2008. I agree with you about Palin’s awfulness and the awfulness of the right in embracing her along with her lies and her vitriol. I was not blaming Obama for the right’s embrace Trumpism, nor offering any excuse for it. Trump and his supporters suck. I theorized that McCain’s campaign tried unsuccessfully to exploit Palin for publicity to offset being outspent in the election the way Trump successfully exploited the same garbage approach in ‘16. I think the right’s obsession with hating Obama seeded the field for Trump to succeed where Palin fell flatter. I’m blaming the right’s irrational hatred of Obama, not blaming Obama. (Not to say I’m a fan of Obama, I’m not. But I dislike him for vastly different reasons than right-wingers do.)