Since Philly is a Republican desert, this person (If real at all) probably is a columnist for the National Review or Evening Standard, i.e. a Harvard/Yale type interested in being a Conservative only insofar as it helps his investment portfolio and taxes.
Yes, McCain would have got his ass handed to him without Palin, since Conservatives couldn't stand him and especially Second Amendment people hated his guts since he was actually worse than a Democrat because enough Republicans in Congress would have felt compelled to go along with him for party unity that the Dems could pass any damn' thing they wanted to in that lane. He and his conniving family, including his fatass daughter and their shills, proceeded to do everything they could to stab her in the back and distance himself from her, without doing the math that being a RINO was not going to get Dems to vote for him and dissing Palin would cost him a lot of Conservative votes. Frankly I hoped he'd be narrowly elected (A long shot) and then croak about 10 minutes after inauguration, but I can see why even with her on the ballot it wasn't enough to get a sufficient number of Conservatives to pull the lever for him, since it was all too possible he'd be reasonably healthy for four years and sell the Conservatives out completely.
As it was, Palin was the only reason that election was as close as it was. Without her, he would've come in about 10 points lower than he did.