Dodd map

[Brittain33]

Kucinich would struggle to reach Dukakis levels in the electoral vote by relying on states where opposition to the war and the Republican brand were strong enough to get people to vote for him. Key to Obama's win was that he looked credible on the economic crisis while McCain didn't. Also, running against Kucinich, McCain wouldn't have had to nominate Palin as a Hail Mary pass.

[Brittain33]

Kucinich beat Palin?  Hahahhaa.

Both have limited bases, but Palin's is a LOT bigger. 

Kucinich loses big time to McCain because McCain is a credible candidate and Kucinich is not. However, Palin is not a credible candidate, either. She may have a larger base but she still can't string three words together into a coherent sentence. In 2008, the Democratic base is much larger than the Republican base. Kucinich may be a kook but Palin is clueless and over her head. I think turnout would be abysmal and I can't fully predict what would happen, but Palin couldn't win nationally in a rout under any circumstances short of the most extreme.