Apparently the Republican candidate believes that The Flintstones is based on a true story. Will she be asked about this belief in the VP debate or in another public forum? Will Palin's belief help the Republicans to win votes from Christian conservatives in swing states?
We all know that Miss Wasilla 1984 believes in teaching "creation science". The LA Times has a recent article reporting on her longstanding personal belief that humans and dinosaurs co-existed. A 2007 Gallup poll in USA Today (McPaper) showed that two-thirds (!!) of those polled believe that to be true or likely so.
For me, trained as a scientist, that's an astonishing demonstration of either American religious fervor, a poor educational system, massive brainwashing, or all of the above. Gallup checked on the political implications for those expressing this belief and found that 15% of registered voters would be more likely to vote for a candidate who expressed a belief in creationism. While 30% said that they would be less likely to vote for that candidate, these numbers raise an interesting question. If we were to assume that the 15% with these fundamentalist and evangelical religious beliefs are more likely to be registered Republicans, and that the 30% are unlikely to support the Republican ticket under any circumstances, then it might be a winning strategy for the Republicans to publicly express their belief in creationism. That could win them a few more votes in certain swing states, such as Colorado and Nevada, which have many Christian conservatives.
While such a strategy would certainly not help the world's image of America, we have already seen that no tactic, except for torture, is out of the question for the McSame/Palin camp. I'm already picturing Palin in the Badlands of South Dakota, posing with her long-lost ancestors. I hope that someone who is skilled in video production can take this concept and turn it into a Palin "ad" and post it on YouTube....