Notes from the opposition
We scanned a couple of the NYT’s columnists to see what clever and amusing attacks on Sarah Palin they might dream up. We were a bit disappointed. Frank Rich, for example, says that since John McCain is “too weak” to be President, a “McCain victory on Election Day will usher in a Palin presidency, with McCain serving as a transitional front man”:
A week ago the question was: Is Sarah Palin qualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency? The question today: What kind of president would Sarah Palin be? It’s an urgent matter, because if we’ve learned anything from the G.O.P. convention and its aftermath, it’s that the 2008 edition of John McCain is too weak to serve as America’s chief executive…
No longer able to remember his principles any better than he can distinguish between Sunnis and Shia, McCain stands revealed as a guy who can be easily rolled by anyone who sells him a plan for “victory,” whether in Iraq or in Michigan. A McCain victory on Election Day will usher in a Palin presidency, with McCain serving as a transitional front man, an even weaker Bush to her Cheney. The ambitious Palin and the ruthless forces she represents know it, too…
This was made clear in the most chilling passage of Palin’s acceptance speech. Aligning herself with “a young farmer and a haberdasher from Missouri” who “followed an unlikely path to the vice presidency,” she read a quote from an unidentified writer who, she claimed, had praised Truman: “We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty and sincerity and dignity.” Then Palin added a snide observation of her own: Such small-town Americans, she said, “run our factories” and “fight our wars” and are “always proud” of their country.
It is a bit unclear why this passage was “chilling,” in Rich’s opinion, except that the fellow who praised Truman was a right-wing newspaperman we never had heard of. Pretty weak material. As for Maureen Dowd, she claims, based on the Charlie Gibson interview, that Sarah Palin is the new George W. Bush:
An Arctic blast of action has swept into the 2008 race, making thinking passé. We don’t really need to hurt our brains studying the world…our new Napoleon in bunny boots (not the Pamela Anderson kind, but the knock-offs of the U.S. Army Extreme Cold Weather Vapor Barrier Boots) is ready to face down the Russkies and start a land war over Georgia…
The really scary part of the Palin interview was how much she seemed like W. in 2000, and not just the way she pronounced nu-cue-lar. She had the same flimsy but tenacious adeptness at saying nothing, the same generalities and platitudes, the same restrained resentment at being pressed to be specific, as though specific is the province of silly eggheads, not people who clear brush at the ranch or shoot moose on the tundra…
She tried to finesse her previous church comments about Iraq, asking worshipers to pray “that there is a plan, and that plan is God’s plan.” Earnestly repeating after her tutors, she said she had meant to echo Abraham Lincoln, that in war we must pray that we are on God’s side rather than that he is on ours. But her original comments sounded more W. than Abe…
Poor Ms. Dowd. She seems to have been duped on the Georgia issue by ABC’s bad editing of Palin, and on the Iraq issue by the journalistic malpractice of the AP. Not that these things would have mattered.
The entire MSM seem to have lost their bearings for the moment. The NYT reported on page one today, “Once Elected, Palin Hired Friends and Lashed Foes,” as if that’s a page one story in politics. Meanwhile, the WaPo countered with a page one barnburner of its own, “As Mayor of Wasilla, Palin Cut Own Duties, Left Trail of Bad Blood.” SNL had a not very funny Palin-Clinton joint appearance. And Senator Obama, who is back to talking about McCain, sounded flat. These folks need to regroup, get back to basics, and forget about Palin if they want their side to win in seven weeks.
September 14th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Actually, I thought the SNL skit was pretty good.
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The McCain campaign used mockery to counteract Obama mania. IMO direct attacks would not have worked; if anything, they would have boomeranged. I suspect that the Obama campaign was prepared for direct attacks, but derision caught them flat-footed.
So what is the left thinking as it hysterically spews deranged venom at Palin? They should be working along the lines of SNL and Lisa Nova. An element of truth is an essential ingredient of successful mockery.
These folks need to regroup, get back to basics, and forget about Palin if they want their side to win in seven weeks.
IMO McCain still has an uphill climb to the Presidency. All the Democrats have to do to win is recover their composure and campaign competently. All they have to do is not be the 1986 Red Sox or, equivalently, not to be the Y2K Al Gore.
September 15th, 2008 at 12:20 am
Afterthought. As an antiPalin hit piece, the Lisa Nova interview skit is too blatant. The skit’s Gibson actually comes off better than the real Gibson did. The perfect touch would have been to make fun of Gibson too while keeping the balance of disadvantage with Palin.
September 15th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
gs, I have to respectfully disagree. Senator Obama has been outed as an easily rattled lightweight with no relevant experience for the job. That doesn’t go away because the Obama campaign wants it to.
It’s as likely as a nerd becoming cool in High School. There isn’t enough time left to create a new image.
September 15th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
MarkD, thanks for your perspective. You write:
Agreed.
Yes, there isn’t enough time left to do an Obama makeover, but there is plenty of time to undermine McCain and/or Palin. The MSM and Democrats might finally manage to concoct an effective smear, or some of the attacks might turn out to be legitimate.
September 16th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
I agree with that, and it’s going to be an interesting few weeks. The debates should be decisive, but you never know what dirty tricks will be tried.
Meanwhile, still no RICO indictments for ACORN. It seems like stealing control of an entire country would be the ultimate criminal conspiracy.
September 17th, 2008 at 7:15 am
My previous comment neglected to mention that there is also plenty of time for unforced errors</a that the McCain campaign can ill afford.