At that moment, McCain could have won the favor of a contingent of Americans who felt disenfranchised and neglected by their government. He could have rallied an ugly movement that had been launched when he brought Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on as his running mate. In an act of pure desperation, the McCain campaign had recruited Palin to appeal not only to women, but also to this fringe group of the GOP that had long proved difficult for mainstream Republicans such as McCain to grasp.