2008 Primaries, Branding Politix, Speeches • September 4th, 2008

Palin hunting

by Chris Lato

Read this article. Does anything just leap out at you right out of the gate? How about referring to a teenage daughter of a vice-presidential candidate as ‘stupid?’ How about Palin’s ‘out of control home life’ will resonate with Americans if ‘they’re from Mars or perhaps on welfare’?

Have we really fallen that far in American news and comment when flat-out mean-spirited name-calling directed at a 17-year old girl passes as solid reportage? Or does it merely reflect the Daily Kos-ification of political news coverage?

Now check out this article. The gist of it is, a very slim majority of Americans believe the press is out to get Sarah Palin. That may be a troubling sign for Democrats.

Part of what makes Palin’s selection so brilliant, and that feeds into the McCain ‘maverick’ image, is that she is truly a Washington outsider. She hasn’t spent decades in Washington, or made a career of carefully calibrated choices with an eye on the biggest political prize she could score. The press doesn’t like to be kept out in the cold, and a decision like this one really shuts them out.

One thing McCain needed was a sense of energy and excitement around his campaign, something to rally around. It wasn’t there a week ago, but it’s there now. Democrats didn’t expect this choice and are struggling with how to respond. Some extremists are lashing out.

I’m not saying Palin is above criticism. Her record is absolutely fair game. The press can ask about her record on taxes, foreign policy inexperience, the Bridge to Nowhere, etc. She’d better have honest, straightforward answers.

But these vicious attacks on her family are truly offensive – and that would be true if it was a Democrat or a Republican. And it threatens to backfire as people believe Palin is being unfairly raked over the coals because she doesn’t fit the mold of what a Republican candidate for vice president ‘should’ or was expected to be.

Every time a member of the press goes after Palin with especially crass name-calling, or calls her teenage daughter ‘stupid,’ or her home life ‘out of control,’ it serves to validate long-held conservative beliefs that by and large, the press is in the tank for Democrats in general and Barack Obama in particular. Will that turn off some in middle America so much that McCain-Palin reap the benefits?

As for the speech before the RNC last night…impressive. She took it to the Obama/Biden ticket. The game is afoot.

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