Opinion
Anti-Palin talk emboldens GOP
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Also by Ryan Masse:
- Count down to Keith Olbermann's irrelevant exit (November 12, 2008)
- Health plan losing steam (October 29, 2008)
- ACORN unintentionally fraudulent (October 16, 2008)
- Biden versus Palin: debate to watch (October 2, 2008)
- Anti-Palin talk emboldens GOP (September 18, 2008)
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Nearly three weeks after arriving on the national scene, Sarah Palin is an undeniable political phenom.
She dominates discourse on cable news shows. She graces the covers of countless magazines, even those not prone to cover politics. Newspaper columns (including this one) dissect her endlessly.
Her star shines brightly on the Internet. Google users are 15 times more likely to run a search for Palin than for her Democratic counterpart, Joe Biden. Since Aug. 29, when Republican presidential nominee John McCain tabbed Palin as his runningmate, not a day has gone by in which more users searched for McCain than for her. Even the mighty Barack Obama, himself a longtime owner of the phenom tag, has taken a backseat to Palin power — since Aug. 29, Google searches for Palin have topped searches for Obama every single day. (In comparison, searches for John Edwards and Dick Cheney never sniffed the level s of those for George W. Bush and John Kerry in the fall of 2004).
Palin is so popular that McCain has taken the unusual step of appearing on the campaign trail alongside her. Conventional wisdom would say the two could cover more ground and meet more voters by going their separate ways, but the McCain-Palin-as-one act has proven to be too big of a hit to split up. Not to mention that it avoids the possibility of the veep outdrawing the presidential candidate.
Palin’s ascendency has produced panic in many Democratic quarters, to the point that many seem to have forgotten John McCain remains at the top of the Republican ticket. No longer does Hillary Clinton simply proclaim “No way, no how, no McCain.” Now she tells crowds in Ohio “No way, no how, no McCain and no Palin,” apparently sacrificing cadence in the interest of landing any jab she can at the fledgling superstar. Obama himself has found it necessary to talk extensively about the Alaska governor, on earmarks and other issues, something a presidential candidate would ordinarily leave to his surrogates.
Obama’s media supporters have been even more out of sorts. In a desperate attempt to tear the Alaska governor down, they’ve turned this election — at least as it stands in mid-September — into a veritable referendum on Sarah Palin. That’s not a winning strategy. She’s simply too popular.
On Sept. 2, Bob Herbert of the New York Times derided Palin as a “G.O.P. distraction…meant to shift attention away from the real issue of this campaign.” Yet even Herbert found the bait irresistible, as 10 days later he devoted his entire column not to “real issues” but to Palin and the “dimwittedness” that has propelled her.
The Gray Lady’s other columnists are equally gripped by Palin obsession. Frank Rich has spent his last two columns on Palin. Maureen Dowd her last five. None have dedicated any significant space to discussing Biden.
On the local level, the Capital Times’ John Nichols, who seemingly doubles as a news reporter when not writing the paper’s editorials, traveled all the way to Alaska to interview residents not satisfied with their governor. And he’s added two anti-Palin columns as part of his regular gig as an editorialist for the leftist rag.
To be sure, some of this Palin coverage has raised legitimate issues. Whether she has the requisite experience to be vice president after only two years as governor is a fair question, as is whether her foreign policy outlook is sufficiently nuanced.
Yet much of the talk, such as the Troopergate story, is overblown. And talk of her supposed lack of foreign policy knowledge, much of it stemming from an interview with ABC News’ Charlie Gibson, is nitpicky. (For Palin to ask Gibson for clarification on what he meant by “the Bush Doctrine” is hardly unreasonable. The Bush Doctrine could refer to spreading democracy as a counter to terrorism. Or it could mean the use of unilateral military action, i.e. not with the backing of the United Nations or others, to target regimes deemed a threat to American security, with an ancillary mission to spread democracy. Or it could mean treating regimes that harbor terrorists as terrorists themselves.)
Meanwhile, the anti-Palin talk distracts mightily from the Obama narrative. Supporters no longer extol his virtues; they just direct vitriol at Palin. This serves to rally conservatives while leaving voters unable to grasp the still-rough edges of his vision for the country. He says we are in “the most serious financial situation in generations.” Will his higher tax rates on the rich encourage growth? Will his higher taxes on capital gains buoy the stock market?
Vice presidents rarely make much of a difference in presidential elections. Lloyd Bentsen delivered one of the more memorable lines in debate history in 1988. It didn’t do Michael Dukakis any good.
Palin may be an exception. She is certainly a phenomenon. For that she can credit her legions of supporters, and increasingly, those most opposed to her. If their obsession with tearing her down doesn’t abate soon, they may well hand her, er, McCain, the election.
Ryan Masse (rmasse@badgerherald.com) is a second-year law student.20 Comments | Leave a comment
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Masse, you’ve got it all wrong. She doesn’t give many interviews, and that WILL catch up with her. She might be “average Mom USA,” but she will eventually become unlikeable. Ultimately, the more criticism she takes, the worse McCain looks for picking such a second-rate politician as a running mate.
Masse, this discussion is moot, shouldn’t you be writing about McCain and Phil Graham’s plan to destroy the economy and health care as we know it. The “Free Market” is quite suspect these days.
Ryan,
In order for the Cap Times to be a rag, it has to be a printed paper. They can’t even successfully do that without piggybacking on the WSJ.
Ryan,
You obviously have not looked at numbers in last 48 hours. They got their post-convention bounce with their “Mrs. Smith goes to Washington”, but now reality is creeping back in and Obama’s numbers are rightfully rising again.
Palin’s the hottest-lookin’ veep we’ve ever had! Hell yeah, I’d vote for her. What she lacks in foreign policy experience, she more than makes up for in…legs. LEGS, MAN!!! Let’s see Putin or Ahmadinejad try to talk down a babe who can pick ‘em off at the knees at a thousand yards! Wooo-hooooo!!
This is a remarkable article, you might even say phenomenal, in how effective it is at completely misrepresenting the current state of the race.
Did you ever think more people search for her because they know nothing about her? Her level of experience is on par with your average hockey mom…
When asked for specifics on her foreign policy experience in Grand Rapids, Michigan, she said “… you know I think that I am prepared, and I know that on January 20th if we are so blessed as to be sworn into office as your president and vice president, certainly we’ll be ready. I’ll be ready. I have that confidence.”
Real specific.
As for “she’s simply too popular” Hahaha, could you be any more wrong. Her approval rating has dropped 10-15 points in the last week in every tracking poll. She went from being more popular than the Obama, McCain, Biden to less popular than all 3 in a week. The more people learn about her, the less they like her.
She’s phenomenally inexperienced, phenomenally unprepared and phenomenally unknowledgeable about the issues the country faces today.
Perhaps if you took some time away from spouting off about what you wish the truth were and looked at the facts as they stand today, you’ll see that McCain’s “bold gamble” (aka pandering) is failing badly.
This column comes a couple of days too late. Bigger things than this are happening in the country, and no one gives a shit about the “Palin phenomenon.”
Post my comment, you biased fucks.
“it’s also horrendously overblown. Odds are she won’t need to succeed McCain in the next four years.” To contend that Palin may succeed McCain is hardly unreasonable. Also, Palin never asked Gibson to clarify the Bush Doctrine. After her first answer missed addressing in any way the issue, Gibson asked if she understood what it was, she obviously didn’t, he had to explain it to her. For the record, the ‘Bush Doctrine’ is accepted universally in so many words as unilateral preemptive attack against an enemy whose threat is not immediate for the sake of national security. All of the other definitions already have names, or are not unique to the Bush administration. And it is important because it has radically shaped our foreign policy for the past 6 years. I guess Law School lacks training in the politics of international relations. If one had written a piece about McCain’s ruthless, unwarranted attacks on Obama, the reverse could have been concluded. Read a newspaper, after calling out McCain on his lies and as Palin became more exposed to be the smooth talking, unsophisticated, creationist, manipulating, flip flopper that she is in reality, Obama has regained the lead, a trend which the GOP yet has an answer for.
Besides, what the hell does an oil-rich Alaskan Governor know about the continuous 48? Do they have an illegal eskimo problem?
From today’s townhall meeting featuring Sarah Palin (God have mercy on us):
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Governor Palin, there has been quite a bit of discussion about your perceived lack of foreign policy experience. And I want to give you your chance. If you could please respond to that criticism and give us specific skills that you think you have to bring to the White House to rebut that or mitigate that concern.
PALIN: Well, I think because I’m a Washington outsider that opponents are going to be looking for a whole lot of things that they can criticize and they can kind of try to beat the candidates here, who chose me as his partner, to kind of tear down the ticket. But as for foreign policy, you know, I think that I am prepared and I know that on January 20th, if we are so blessed as to be sworn into office as your president and vice president, certainly we’ll be ready. I’ll be ready. I have that confidence. I have that readiness.
And if you want specifics with specific policy or countries, go ahead and you can ask me. You can even play stump the candidate if you want to. But we are ready to serve.
People just don’t know about her, that’s why they’re searching for her. And also to make fun of her, because she’s such a wacky dimwit. And she scares people, what with her book-banning penchant, her cannabis hypocrisy, and her firm fundie belief in body slavery.
I’m amazed at the mental powers that enable some people to simutaneously hold the absolutely contradictory opinions that Palin doesn’t have enough experience to be Vice President but that Obmama does have enough experience to be President.
Obama is a ward heeler from the Chicago Machine - nothing more and nothing less. Lately his Chicago Machine roots have been showing more.
Remind me again what foreign policy experience (and visiting countries to introduce himself is not experience) Obama, the man running for PRESIDENT, has?
Actually just point me three things Obama has done (not that he has talked about doing or promises to do), in general?
Palin is so popular that McCain has taken the unusual step of appearing on the campaign trail alongside her.
SILLY BOY … they are connected at the hip on the campaign trail because she’s not competent enough to handle it solo.
I’ve actually been to Russia. Does that mean I’m more qualified to be VP than Sarah Palin?
Obama is on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. Has been for four years. And considering they are the committee that deals with foreign affairs, there you go.
By the same token, I could say to you that McCain only has foreign experience in Vietnam, and we’re not really very concerned about there anymore.
“Obama is on the Senate Foreign Relations committee.”
Has he held a meeting on Afghanistan? Has he ever done anything?
Do this: Compare the questions Charles Gibson gave to Sarah Palin to the question he gave Obama.
Hi kids!
Having fun in college?
…Excellent.
Remember, now’s the time to try new things and ideas, because later in life, you have to actual be responsible and somewhat intelligent.
Remember what Winston Churchill said: “If a man is 20 and not a liberal, he has no heart. If a man is forty and not a conservative, he has no brain.”
Love,
an old guy.
Oops,
So how did this turn out?
ROFL
60% DISAPPROVAL IN EXIT POLLS.
Idiot.