The economy nearly collapsed in Sept 2008. A month later, Palin's family drama was at its peak, and Fey/Couric was skewing Palin all over the airwaves.
What if Palin had withdrawn from the ticket due to "family issues" and gotten the honary title of "Mccain Energy Czar" if/when he was elected?
She could have kept speaking for him, and kept her diehard following. Mitt Romney, the economic genius, could have been added to the ticket. Remember Mccain led Obama by a few points in early sept, before Americans freaked out over economic mess and realized Mccain's plan of "i've always supported the Bush economic Policy" wasn't gonna fly.
I think Mccain would have won the election.