Worst Pick Ever?
(updated with video clips)
It's looking more and more like Hurricane Gustav is the best thing that could have happened to the McCain campaign. First, it gave them the perfect excuse to cancel both President Bush and Vice President Cheney's appearances at the Republican National Convention. That will deprive the Obama campaign of footage that almost surely would have been used in campaign commercials. And with the damage from the storm looking much less severe than people had feared, it's likely that the rest of the convention can go on more or less as scheduled (and with the image of a competent government response replacing memories of Katrina).
But perhaps more importantly, coverage of the storm eclipsed what might have been one of the worst days for a Vice Presidential candidate of all time. Let's review what we've learned about Sarah Palin today:
-Her 17 year old daughter is pregnant.
-She was a member of a fringe Alaskan separatist party (new slogan: "Alaska First"?).
-She has lawyered up in response to a state investigation into an alleged abuse of power.
-The McCain campaign has sent a team of lawyers to Alaska to begin the vetting process that they apparently didn't do before choosing Palin as VP.
-The major news outlets reported that one of the key claims Palin made in her introductory speech--that she opposed the "Bridge to Nowhere"--was completely false. She actually campaigned for governor promising to get the bridge built, and regardless, the project was killed before she ever took office.
That's an exceptionally bad news day, by anyone's standards. Luckily for Palin, no one was really paying attention.
My hunch, though, is that even among Republicans who were excited about the Palin pick, the initial euphoria is giving way to some real concerns (whether they'll admit it or not). Last week I saw that one British gambling operation was offering 16/1 odds that Joe Biden would be replaced on the ticket before the election. If I were a bookie, I'd be offering much better odds on Palin being replaced. Her ship is venturing into Eagleton territory and without a quick course correction, she may end up being one of the worst VP picks ever.
On a tangential note, when it comes to talking about Palin, I think all Democratic surrogates should watch James Carville's performances the last two nights on CNN and take notes. He's been brutal but incredibly effective. Here's the clip from last night. I'll try to post the clip from tonight's Larry King Live if I can find it (it was even better):
UPDATE: Okay, here's a clip of Carville on Larry King Live tonight. Unfortunately, it's missing the best part, where he holds up a picture of Wasilla City Hall and compares it to a bait shop. The clip is still pretty good, though.
UPDATE II: Found it. Here's the part with the bait shop quote.
It's looking more and more like Hurricane Gustav is the best thing that could have happened to the McCain campaign. First, it gave them the perfect excuse to cancel both President Bush and Vice President Cheney's appearances at the Republican National Convention. That will deprive the Obama campaign of footage that almost surely would have been used in campaign commercials. And with the damage from the storm looking much less severe than people had feared, it's likely that the rest of the convention can go on more or less as scheduled (and with the image of a competent government response replacing memories of Katrina).
But perhaps more importantly, coverage of the storm eclipsed what might have been one of the worst days for a Vice Presidential candidate of all time. Let's review what we've learned about Sarah Palin today:
-Her 17 year old daughter is pregnant.
-She was a member of a fringe Alaskan separatist party (new slogan: "Alaska First"?).
-She has lawyered up in response to a state investigation into an alleged abuse of power.
-The McCain campaign has sent a team of lawyers to Alaska to begin the vetting process that they apparently didn't do before choosing Palin as VP.
-The major news outlets reported that one of the key claims Palin made in her introductory speech--that she opposed the "Bridge to Nowhere"--was completely false. She actually campaigned for governor promising to get the bridge built, and regardless, the project was killed before she ever took office.
That's an exceptionally bad news day, by anyone's standards. Luckily for Palin, no one was really paying attention.
My hunch, though, is that even among Republicans who were excited about the Palin pick, the initial euphoria is giving way to some real concerns (whether they'll admit it or not). Last week I saw that one British gambling operation was offering 16/1 odds that Joe Biden would be replaced on the ticket before the election. If I were a bookie, I'd be offering much better odds on Palin being replaced. Her ship is venturing into Eagleton territory and without a quick course correction, she may end up being one of the worst VP picks ever.
On a tangential note, when it comes to talking about Palin, I think all Democratic surrogates should watch James Carville's performances the last two nights on CNN and take notes. He's been brutal but incredibly effective. Here's the clip from last night. I'll try to post the clip from tonight's Larry King Live if I can find it (it was even better):
UPDATE: Okay, here's a clip of Carville on Larry King Live tonight. Unfortunately, it's missing the best part, where he holds up a picture of Wasilla City Hall and compares it to a bait shop. The clip is still pretty good, though.
UPDATE II: Found it. Here's the part with the bait shop quote.
posted by A.L. at 8:39 PM
14 Comments:
Worst pick ever? How about Henry G. Davis, VP for the Dems in 1904 - at age 80.
I admit I was dubious at first but having heard the McCain supporters' arguments, I'm now convinced of Sarah Palin's complete preparedness to be president. In fact if McCain was a true patriot, he'd step down tomorrow and put her name forward.
I think the Obama campaign is doing an excellent job of saying little about Sarah Palin. I'm sure that they would prefer that she stays in the race.
Hope your analysis is correct. I'm concerned that her anti-abortion position and support for teaching creationism along side science will drive the GOP foot soldiers out in droves on election day. Membership in the Assembly of God denomination qualifies her as "the real deal" amongst fundamentalists. If it appears that either the media, the Democratic party, or "the DFH godless liberal bloggers" are beating up either her or her family, the fundies WILL rally around her with the determination, wrath, and viciousness of a raccoon defending its young.
For the GOP, there is NO retreat from this candidate and the powers that be know it. She's been anointed for the job by the Southern Baptist Convention. See http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/08/08/politics/politicalplayers/main4331863.shtml
There's as much chance of McCain withdrawing Palin as there is of him saying he was wrong about the Iraq war. We should have her to kick around for another 2 months.
Its been used before, but ...
"The worst appointment since the Emperor Caligula made his horse a Consul".
Keep dissing small towns.
Palin is going to get tons of sympathy from these smears.
VC,
People are smarter than you give them credit for. Most small town Americans don't think their mayor should be president of the United States.
Well, she is still viewed favorably by a majority of voters according to Rasmussen.
Maybe you're not in touch as you think.
Virginia,
The emphasis is on the "still" in that sentence. Give it time, give it time.
I agree with A.L. here. Other people are smarter than you give them credit for. I just had a chat with one of my independent friends, and he's just aghast at McCain's choice. I think it was the secessionist party membership that put him over the top, but he thought the whole picture was just getting worse and worse.
I just hope she doesn't resign. We want Obama to run against her.
I'm not seeing anything about the so-called secessionist group in the MSM. At all.
Keep dreaming. She is staying on the ticket. She will be the next VP.
as discussed over on me very own blog, the most significant fall-out of the last two days, and the days to come, whether Palin stays or not, is that the Press has discovered the ability to criticize John McCain.
He has lost his 'base'...and his magical protective coating.
The election is now as much about him as it is about Obama.
A VERY good thing.
Virginia,
Is ABC News MSM enough for ya?
Sure, she was vetted. Yup. And I'm sure this will go a long way towards convincing the independents that she's a real mainstream politician.
The way this works is that, starting from a blank slate, a little troubling information is discovered. That causes people to dig a little deeper. Then, when more is found, a "feeding frenzy" among the media sets in, because they all want the scoop.
Now, when there isn't anything there, it will gradually die away. But if they do find something, and then something more, it can get out of hand. It looks, to me, like we might be on the verge of a deluge of things like this, one a day, for a week or two.
This is why you vet somebody, so you can nip this in the bud. Like they did with Dubya's National Guard records, you can disappear stuff you don't like. You can release false information, then show that it's bogus, which embarrasses the media, and destroys their credibility.
But you have to know ahead of time so you can get in front of the curve.
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