With the explosion of support that McCain has seen in the last few weeks, there can only be one explanation… Sarah Palin. She, at once, unified the evangelical base, small town America, and offered centrist and Independent women another option.
And it scared the bejesus out of the Obama campaign.
The total shock that the media and the Obama campaign clearly experienced at the naming of Palin as McCain’s VP pick showed their arrogance and closed mindedness. She had been on McCain’s radar for months. As a matter of fact, even I, a relatively casual observer of the McCain VP search, knew that she was on the short list (and was rooting for her, btw).
So, without having paid attention to the crime fighting small town girl that loves her church and her guns, the media and the campaign surrogates had to start coming up with information from zero. They grasped at straws and started throwing out information without any real vetting or fact checking.
First were the vicious rumors about Trig not being Sarah’s baby, but her daughter’s. Then came the horrendous reports that Palin and/or her husband had committed adultery. And finally came the questions about what kind of a mother Palin would be if she were Vice President… an incredibly sexist sentiment and something that would never had been asked if she was a man.
All of these “reports and rumors” were echoed by Obama surrogates and repeated by campaign spokespeople, though not by Obama himself. Not yet at least.
Once the Democrats and the Obama campaign realized that the personal attacks were backfiring, the attacks on the “issues” began. Only the attacks were far off the mark.
First came the reports that she cut funding for teen pregnancy programs, but a quick internet search showed that she actually increased it by 300%. Then came the reports that she cut funding for special needs children, but in actuality she had increased it by 200%. And my personal favorites were the reports that she tried to get books banned from the library, which is patently ridiculous. The”facts” were clearly not working for them. They had to find something else.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Cindy D
Texas,
You are a day late and a dollar short. The Palin phenomenon is losing its effect.
It's not a pretty site to watch Palin "cramming" for the VP role at the last minute. People are beginning to wonder why McCain would pick a running mate who so clearly is unprepared for high office.
Sarah Palin's downfall will be aided most by conservatives who have been (or are now) waking up--scared:
You may wish to read what these conservatives now have to say about Palin: Kathleen Parker, Steven Hayward, David Brooks, Ross Douthat, Rod Dreher, Rick Lowry, Sen. Chuck Hagel, Daniel Drezner.
Sarah Palin must go, conservative columnist Kathleen Parker opines
Noonan and Murphy on Palin (when they didn't know the mics were live)
Writing this article would have made more sense in early September. That is, if it could make any sense to write something based on the sources for your opinion, which appear to be spam emails.
2 - Lisa Solod Warren
The accomplishments of women, plural? Or the accomplishments of one small town mayor, one governor of a small-population state who believes, still, that her border with Russia gives her foreign policy experience, who, indeed IS against sex education in our schools, and who can't seem to handle an interview with a lightweight like Katie Couric without losing it completely.
You may support Palin at your risk. But don't expect the rest of America to accept your analysis that Obama is dissing all women and their accomplishments. He has a far more accomplished wife than Palin could ever hope to be.
3 - Silas Kain
With all due respect, Lisa, I'm afraid to bring to your attention that Sarah Palin is far more qualified to be President than the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Damn, I'm sorry. That's not saying much now is it? We now return to regularly scheduled programming....
4 - Lisa Solod Warren
Actually, my vote goes to Martha Stewart for VP with McCain. At least she has a lovely speaking voice:) And she's already BEEN in jail:)
5 - Brad Laidman
3. Will you support funding for abstinence-until-marriage education instead of for explicit sex-education programs, school-based clinics, and the distribution of contraceptives in schools?
SP: Yes, the explicit sex-ed programs will not find my support.
That's really all I need to know - oh and I did see a video of her apparently beseeching a congregation to pray for a pipeline.
As to whether she is a man or a woman, it matters nothing to me.
If there is any sexism, in the way she is being treated, it's in the way the people that chose her are sheilding her from the media.
It was a cynical pick, but then again pretty much all vice-presidential picks are.
6 - Silas Kain
I wonder how many lobbyists and Wall Street misogynist fat cats paid for Martha's prosecution? They never liked her and her empire. In the end she prevailed. One more point to women and one more reason to castrate male lobbyists, financiers and male offspring of political dynasties.
7 - Greg
Wow, in addition to being comically late to offer comment, your piece is just crammed with untruths and discredited GOP talking points.
You write that the rumors about Trig's birth and the Palins' marriage "were echoed by Obama surrogates and repeated by campaign spokespeople". No they weren't. You don't show any examples to back up this accusation, because there aren't any: it isn't true.
I won't bother to enumerate the stack of other inaccuracies and tropes in your piece, since your sad little missive clearly missed a deadline with reality.
8 - Baritone
Palin is floundering badly. As Cindy notes above, a number of conservatives are calling for her to step down. About the only thing that ole Tex is right about in his article is that, yes, the choice did send Obama's campaign and much of the media into a brief tail spin. "Palin? Say what?!"
I doubt that you'll hear much in the way of manufactured Palin slams over the next few weeks. Rather, it is apparent that Sweet Sarah will likely self-destruct on her own.
McCain's choice of Palin was terribly cynical. It is clear now that the ONLY reason she was chosen was for window dressing. She looks good. Beyond that, she has little to offer. Thus far, it has been painfully apparent that she is flunking International Relations 101. Katie Couric sent Tundra Barbie into rambling nonsequiturs with relatively basic questions, reminiscent of Lauren Upton's fumbling beauty pageant answer.
I further agree with Cindy, that this article may have had more impact and credibility a couple of weeks ago. Palin's luster is now clouding over.
McCain loves to abruptly change the paradigm. His choice of Palin was similar to his announcement late last week that he was suspending his campaign and would not attend the Friday debate in Oxford to go back to D.C. and enter into the bail out negotiations.
"Here I come to save the day!" (Sung to the Mighty Mouse theme song.)
That he never suspended anything, that he managed little if any input to the negotiations, but in fact, his presence became more of a distraction, a side show was far more telling about the man.
McCain is slowly sinking in the polls. Palin was the ONLY reason for his spike after the RNC. Now, her star is fading in the fog of her ignorance. His supposed campaign suspension was a calculated risk that may wind up doing more harm to his numbers than good.
It's still a close race. The debate was not definitive. Neither candidate gained or lost much footing. But, as one pundit put it: If a candidate goes into a debate leading, and the debate ends effectively in a tie, then that candidate won. Actually though, most polling reflects that Obama did in fact win.
Hopefully, the following two presidential debates will be more definitive in their results. And, as for Palin - her make or break moment comes Thursday evening. Biden will do best by just letting Palin scuttle her own ship. If that doesn't happen, then hooray for Sarah the Moose Slayer!
B
9 - Lisa Solod Warren
tina fey does it again!!!!!
10 - bluecollarbytes
The Palin story is far from complete. Some Republicans are "scared"? Is that new? I remember a number of high-profile Republicans voicing their 'concerns' {fears} over McCain's pick of Sarah Palin in the first hours and days after she was selected. ObamaMedia is fighting with all its might to keep ObamaShow on track, whether it's insta-polls purporting to prove Obama winning a debate, or stories that Palin is like a deer caught in the headlights. At the same time we witness Obama's personal history of very close ties to this country's premier radicals being ignored while printing every unfounded Palin-rumor that backs up from the web-toilets of a dailykus or huffingtonblow. The fact remains that Palin truly represents US in middle America. Obama does not. Obama is well versed in DC-speak and Chicago styled thug politics. He represents more, not less of the same, but of course cloaked under his mixed colors. Obama has gotten a pass from MSM since he first burst on the national scene. Obama had a simple "boneheaded" moment when he accepted a land deal from the crook%friend Rezko, hardly knows about the vile hate-filled rants his Prime 20-year mentor Rev. Wright spewed from the political pulpit of Trinity church in Chicago, and barely knows the unrepentant spoiled white domestic terrorist William Ayers and Ayers' helpmate. Obama has Gaping holes throughout his life, including into adulthood-with missing/destroyed records. One might assume that a balanced unbiased news org might find good reason to investigate Obama's lifes'-connections as we consider whether he's fit to take over Democracy's top job in the world. But one would be assuming there IS such a thing as an unbiased press, an unbiased pop-media. Middle America sees through the MSM BS. We always see through it. How could we not? We have brains, independent-thinking minds unique to American individualism, derived from our tradition of Individual Freedom over group-think. Sarah Palin thinks for herself. She needs no Chicago political hack to instruct her on her 'clinging ways'. And neither do most of us in fly-over country. Our lives do not depend on govt. largess, first taken from us, then handed back, pennies on the dollar after first working its way through bureaucrats, additional pork, and all the unique inefficiencies of the Federal handlers. Sarah Palin is a breath of fresh air, and offers real hope, hope that we voters might actually get to infuse the tired old politics of class warfare & govt. nannyism, with new blood, the blood of the people. Obama is not new blood. He's a better cloaked, better looking, better speaking {on occasion} version of 60s radicalism in our face. Sarah Palin is what she is, a working mom, an independent-thinking fully modern woman who Happens to be a conservative. Her accomplishments surpass Obama's. Palin did it in spite of her husband, not thanks to a husband's connections & political success. BUT, She's getting the same treatment from Democrat politicians and D-media as Justice Clarence Thomas received for having been a Conservative black man. The same women who defended Bill Clinton's serial abuse of women now turn their bile towards a woman who outshines them in all the ways that matters to "ordinary folk", because she's a conservative. We watch, and wait patiently for Nov. 5 to arrive. Then everyone will know if Americans choose America, or an ObamaNation.
11 - Daniel Miller
At least part of the reason Governor Palin seems to be flailing is the selective editing of her "news" interviews.
Accept or reject that thesis, perhaps it would be prudent for Governor Palin, and for that matter all the candidates, to insist on live interviews, as distinguished from interviews recorded and edited for subsequent broadcast. Perhaps it would be better for country to see the unexpurgated interviews, and the time constraints imposed by live interviews might well serve to tighten up both the questions and responses. Getting rid of the editing would also get rid of the fuss over whether the editing was appropriate.
Dan(Miller)
12 - Joanne Huspek
The McCain camp made a big mistake not putting her out there more. If she bungles, so be it. She's either going to stand on her own, or not.
The attention she is given from both sides just shows that she is being given too much power in the process. After all, she's just the VP selection. We winced at Quayle before and do at Biden now, but the general population wasn't in a total hatred-filled uproar over those choices.
13 - Daniel Miller
Joanne,
I agree that Governor Palin should be out doing more, and that if she does well or poorly, so be it.
My guess is that the Palin/Biden debate will have substantially higher ratings and shares than did the McCain/Obama debate. Since it will be "live" and therefore unedited, it will be an interesting venue for both of them to show their stuff or lack thereof.
Dan(Miller)
14 - Cindy D
Dan,
Frank Miele (author of the article you linked to @ #11) seems to be unaware that Palin believes that Alaska's proximity to Russia gives her foreign policy experience. He write's:
In any case, this is also the segment of the interview where Gibson’s oh-so-cute editing was used to try to make it look like Palin said she understood Russia because it is close to Alaska.
But, editing had nothing to do with it. It's what Palin said for god's sake!
Of course, you and I both know that Palin should have told Couric directly that she had never said that, but Palin tried to find a polite way to re-direct the question instead.
But, she DID say that. She BELIEVES that.
Miele is out of touch with reality. He clearly understands that proximity to Russia doesn't give someone foreign policy experience. So, he simply denies that Palin believes this DEPSITE what she says.
Dan, you keep bringing up this editing issue. You keep posting sources that make claims that are either wrong (as I addressed in another thread) or contain no evidence, such as this one.
Please could you provide some credible evidence if you know of some?
15 - Daniel Miller
Cindy D,
Whether you accept or reject the hypothesis that the editing was inappropriate (I accept it and you, I understand, reject it), what do you think about having interviews broadcast live (like in the good old days of TV, when most shows were broadcast live)? Wouldn't that put the editing fairness/unfairness issue out to pasture? Wouldn't that be a good thing, for all sides?
Dan(Miller)
16 - Cindy D
Dan,
You have me wrong.
It's not that I disagree with "the editing". It's that it appears to be a delusion.
I'd like to see any evidence of the "so-called biased editing"--period.
17 - Lisa Solod Warren
Bluecollar
Sarah Palin is an "independent-thinking fully modern woman" you say? I say, in that case, we are all in big trouble. If she is a role model for either "independent-thinking" or "modern" then women have not only made no progress at all, but any women role models from as far back as the Bible, are rolling over in their graves.
So far, her independence seems to have stretched as far s taking the nomination without consulting her family, her thinking is whatever McCain's spinmeisters tell her it is, and her modernism, well, that one I can't even figure out at all.
18 - Baritone
It's not as if ONLY Palin's interviews are edited. For years - a lot of years - such interviews have been routinely edited for time and content. The argument that the editing of Palin's interviews was done with the express purpose of making her appear foolish or uninformed is specious. Her own words - often halting and unfocussed, along with her sometimes shrill inflections, facial contortions and squirming body language provide a large measure of Palin's lack of knowledge and readiness. No amount of editing can create that illusion.
But, I will give Dan and the rest the benefit of the doubt till Thursday's debate. The proof will definitely be in that pudding. Should Palin give a good account of herself, so be it. If not, well...
B
19 - bliffle
Palin was a cynical political move by McCain, that will backfire because she is unable to carry the hatchet that the VP candidate is expected to handle.
She will dry up and blow away in a puff of wind.
20 - Daniel Miller
Baritone,
Thanks. I really hope that I will be able to see and hear the debate. It all depends on whether it is available via the internet and whether our internet is up to the task.
As to the editing process, even if no mischief is intended it can easily happen. If an interview lasts, say, two hours, cutting it down to perhaps forty-five minutes necessitates editing out an hour and fifteen minutes. The editing process is, by its very nature and of necessity, subjective. We all have biases and preconceptions, and it would be extremely difficult to edit an interview without having them in play.
I am waiting for someone to suggest why, in view of the allegations of specious editing, regardless of whether the allegations themselves are specious or well founded, the matter can't be put to rest by having live, unedited interviews. It shouldn't be a problem technically, and I really can't think of any other difficulty. Just have an interview that can fit into the network time schedule. Specified time limits can provide discipline. Back when I was arguing cases before courts of appeal, I knew how many minutes I had to make my points, and was reminded of my time limits by lights on the podium letting me know that I had two minutes, then thirty seconds and then that I was finished. Under a similar scenario, perhaps, the questions and answers might be tighter and better thought out. Rambling on and on would be contrary to the interests of both interviewer and interviewee.
Dan(Miller)
21 - Baritone
Dan,
Don't you imagine, though, that having a clock to watch would also serve in, perhaps affecting both the questions AND the answers? A long answer to a question is not necessarily a rambling one. Some questions require long, detailed answers. In effect, then, the clock could become the "editor."
While many interviews have only a relative few segments of them aired, most, if not all, of the networks announce that entire interviews may be available for viewing on the internet via podcasts, etc. Time is always a limiting factor on the tube. Air time is expensive. Few networks are likely to provide extended time for the telecast of overlong interviews.
Is seems also that the charge of "specious editing" have been made ONLY in regards to Ms. Palin. Over the years, I have rarely heard charges from politicos that biased editing was a problem. Why now?
B
22 - Lee Richards
Palin is as qualified to be vice president as Biden is to be pope.
23 - gomccain
I think you meant to say Palin is as qualified to be VP as Obama is to be President.
I can see that.
24 - Zedd
I hope I'm the first smarty pants to highlight this....
"what kind of a mother Palin would be if she were Vice President.... and something that would never had been asked if she was a man"
Probably not. teehee!!
I see why you would feel akin to Palin and want her to be your leader. heehee
25 - Baritone
Indeed Zedd! Great point. It would be quite a difficult question to answer if Sarah were actually, say Steve.
B