Rachel Maddow: The Right Needs to Answer for What's Happened to Conservatism.

It's simply hysterical to listen to Mike Murphy deride criticism of the fact that Palin has chosen a white supremacist to co-author her book as "guilt by association".

Em, Reverend Wright? Bill Ayers? I mean, is this guy for real?

And Murphy's notion, that the insane wing of the Republican party don't carry the sway which the media assumes, is simply deceitful, as Maddow points out:

MURPHY: Yeah. No, no, look, she has a constituency. She'll never be the nominee, I totally agree with David. I agree with Steve Schmidt, it would be actually a disaster if she was the nominee. I do wish my friend Steve felt that a year ago when a lot of people were asking John McCain to put her on the ticket. But the truth is--and I'm going to agree with David here, too--the noisiest parts of kind of the conservative media machine have far less influence than the mainstream media machine that covers the Republican world thinks they do. These radio guys can't deliver a pizza, let alone a nomination.

What planet is Murphy on? Sarah Palin was made the Republican party Vice Presidential nominee precisely to assuage the nutter wing of that party. How can he seriously claim that they have no sway when McCain was forced to put her a 72 year old heartbeat away from the nuclear codes because he was not considered right wing enough by that very section of the party?

As Maddow rightly points out here, Sarah Palin didn't achieve her current position in the Republican hierarchy on her own: she was appointed by McCain. And he did so to bring on board the very wing of the Republican movement which Murphy is arguing have less power than we all assume.

Hat tip to Crooks and Liars.

Tags: Palin, Murphy, Maddow, Republican party