The Myth of How the Media Destroyed Palin

It's been amusing to observe, in the past few days, Sarah Palin hit the media (from blogs to the New York Times) for causing all of her troubles, even threatening to sue some of them for "defaming" her. She's even tweeted the charges, repeatedly. It's been equally fun to read some of those who backed her and John McCain last fall now admitting, after her resignation speech, that she is a true lightweight. This was apparent to most Americans within days of her emergence on the national ticket late last summer.

Ross Douthat, one of her old boosters, in the Times this morning writes that her wacky I'm-outta-here speech disqualifies her from running for president for years to come -- but still manages to blast the media for coming to this conclusion months before he did. Douthat even suggests that the "elite" takedown of Palin ruins it for any other folksy, non-Harvard candidate to run again -- and shatters the notion that anyone-can-grow-up-to-be-President. Of course, this is nonsense. For one thing, we generally insist that "anyone" display some degree of brain power and judgment, and also not quit when the going gets rough.

Can't wait for David Brooks to weigh in. Remember that he said on a panel last autumn that she was thoroughly unfit for higher office, but refused to state that flatly in his column.

In fact, in the months after the November election, we heard from pundits and disgruntled GOPers that the media helped elect Obama by attacking, or mocking, Sarah Palin. These critics still allege that she gave John McCain a big boost in the polls when first named and that she would have help drive him to victory -- if not for the allegedly unfair treatment by Katie and Tina Fey and those mean bloggers and all the rest.

But this is not true. The myth should be put to bed once and for all, as Sarah finally crosses that bridge to nowhere.

In fact, Palin never really helped him except with the GOP "base," which he would have won over anyway. She never had broad-based appeal and, as I have written here previously (and in my book, Why Obama Won), McCain had been fooled by false media coverage of the purported huge number of Hillary Clinton fans -- women and the working class -- who were eager to bolt Obama for the GOP. This never came to pass.

In reality, the undermining of Palin happened well before the networks and SNL got to her. The polls proved it. Her home state paper, the Anchorage Daily News was quick to expose elements of her past that raised questions and just days after she was named, the Fairbanks, Alaska daily called her choice by McCain a silly one. And the evidence mounted from there, within days.

More than anything, McCain was hurt by shattering his strongest calling card -- "experience" -- by picking a neophyte to serve one heartbeat away. Now, some conservative pundits who long backed her now may be reaching the same conclusion as evidence has mounted.

This is not Monday morning (literally) quarterbacking. Here is an excerpt from a column I wrote here last September 1, 2008, on the surprising poll results just as Palin was gaining the GOP nod -- and well before the negative stories in the national press appeared.

A new CNN/Opinion Research poll released today shows that he contest between Barack Obama and John McCain -- after the twin "bounces" of the past few days -- remains essentially tied, with Obama leading at 49% to 48%. But what's most intriguing are the results regarding McCain's choice for veep, who was expected to draw more women to the GOP ticket.

In fact, men seem to be more impressed with this move than women. Just now, this seems to be confirmed by a CBS poll, showing Obama with a 48% to 40% lead overall -- but with a wide lead among women, at 50% to 36%, which has only widened. Only 13% of women said they might be more likely to vote for McCain because of Palin, with 11% saying they are now less likely.

CBS also reports: "Before the Democratic convention, McCain enjoyed a 12-point advantage with independent voters, but now Obama leads among this group 43 percent to 37 percent....The poll shows an increase in the number of Obama voters who are enthusiastic about him."

As for the CNN poll: "Women now appear slightly more likely to vote for Obama than they did a week ago, 53 percent now, compared to 50 percent," reports Keating Holland, CNN's director of polling. "But McCain picked up a couple of points among men. More important, McCain solidified his party's base with the Palin selection, dropping Obama's share of the Republican vote six points to just 5 percent now. The Palin selection did not help among women -- that may come later -- but it did appeal to Republican loyalists."

Men have a slightly more favorable opinion of Palin than women -- 41 percent vs. 36 percent. "If McCain was hoping to boost his share of the women's vote, it didn't work," Holland said. And USA Today/Gallup has just released its post-Palin poll showing that Obama has widened his lead from four points to 50% - 43%.

Here is an excerpt from the CNN report: "Is Palin qualified to be president? Fifty percent say she is unqualified to assume the presidency if that becomes necessary; 45 percent say she's prepared for the White House. In recent history, the only running mate to earn less confidence from the public was Vice President Dan Quayle in 1992.

"Three quarters of all voters think McCain chose a female running mate specifically because he thought adding a woman to the Republican ticket would help him win in November."

Greg Mitchell's new book is "Why Obama Won." He is editor of Editor and Publisher.

 

Follow Greg Mitchell on Twitter: www.twitter.com/GregMitch

Comments

[martynf]

Shame on you in the media hounding her like that putting stupid words in her mouth how could you, its not like she needed any help in that matter now is it..

[S1m0n]

Sarah Palin was a Hail Mary pass from an already failing campaign. Yes, it didn't work, and that made McCain look bad, but McCain was going to lose and look bad anyway. And he knew it. The DNC was a triumph for Obama, and favorable coverage of it and him was dominating the news cycle. The McCain camp must have known that there was nothing they could offer that could compete, and that a dull, unimpressive convention was likely to swamp SS John McCain before September had even begun.

So, they went looking for something - anything - that could add the excitement so missing from the GOP's campaign until then. Then found Sarah, he did exactly what she was supposed to do. The surprise factor, the delerious christian right, and Palin's own charisma added up to create a convention just as exciting as the DNC, and that won back the news cycles.

The problem for MCCain was that as soon as the convention had ended, the wheels fell off. Palin did what she was supposed at the convention, but she couldn't do any of the rest of a running mate's duties and there was no hiding the fact.

[jake1492]

The idea that "anybody can grow up to be president" is best exemplified by Bill Clinton and Barack Obama (but not GW Bush, his is a story of privilege).

Both men rose from very humble origins through their own intelliegence, work ethic, and performance through very demanding paths requiring a record of accomplishment along the way.

Not everyone has the drive and intelligence to become president. Hardly anybody does. Sarah hasn't demonstrated anything close to the same level of ability and performance, just like about 300 million other people.

[lisakaz2]

I think more ppl would be better suited for the job out there than worse than her.

[dtghope]

46% of Americans believe Britney Spears is prepared for the White House.

[starkcr31]

Well that explains how Obama got elected.

[dtghope]

45% thought she was prepared for the White House!? Disturbing!

[JRsNana]

Sarah opened her mouth and spoke. That's what destroyed her.

[GardenerNorCal]

Exactly.

[americanalien]

Republicans thought simply adding a woman to their ticket would help them win. They also thought electing a black man as their party leader would help them in a new racially enlightened America. When are they gonna learn that it is not the gender of a person or the color of the person's skin that counts but it is the content of the person's character?

[darker]

S Palin always WANTS TO GET WHAT SHE WANTS to get ahead.

Now whe figures she doesn't need to stay on as Alaska governor
to make progress in her ambitions. She can capitalize on her
huge, free publicity in MEDIA to get CONTINUOUS power & money.

[hollybork]

It is patently obvious that Palin is not qualified to run for national office, and the more she exposes herself to the media, the more absurd her grandios political ambitions seem. Whomever twisted John McCain's arm to appoint Mrs. Palin did neither him nor his party any favors, and showed incredibly bad judgement.

[PINO]

same can be said for obama...

...It is patently obvious that obama is not qualified to hold a national office, and the more he exposes himself to the media, the more absurd his grandiose political ambitions seem.

thanks holly

[Bankenstein]

Did you know that Obama has been president for 6 months now?

[clevelandchick]

Sour grapes. Obama is highly intelligent, Palin is a simpleton. The only folks buying her crap are the anti-science, anti-intellectual, radical religious nutbags.

[jake1492]

You deadenders keep saying the things you have been saying for a long time even though the evidence is completely to the contrary. Obama is a masterful leader, focussing on the issues that actually matter to the country and excercising power effectively. Yuou don't see that because you don't want to see that.

[floridagal]

Seems to me that the media created Sarah Palin just as much as it destroyed her. She had a large part in her own destruction. For the most part, the media just reported the train wreck rather than sabotaging the train tracks.

[KDog76A]

Kinda like Michael Jackson then?

[mdn]

Its too bad Palin doesn't have the courage not blame others for her failures. She was not cleared of the ethics complaints regarding Troopergate, which opened the way for other challenges, then lies and calls them frivolous. She is powerful, exceedingly ambitious, and willing to trash anyone in her way. She is definitely up to something, along with her #1 advisor, Todd.

[KDog76A]

oh please, the wingers on this site like to pin everything on everyone else....like blaming the banks for foreclosing on their homes when they overbought their house. They want to blame the rich and the corporations for being greedy, yet they'll go out buy stuff they can't afford on a credit card and then cry when they go bankrupt.

There is way more crying about stuff here than any other website I've every been to.

[patricksmom]

You must be referring to St Sarah and her habit of blaming everyone else for her failures.

[jaggededge]

she left because the needless ethics violation investigations were costing millions of her beloved alaska's tax dollars that could have been used for the troops and to help this great nation serve a higher purpose also the families of our great americans and their jobs it's all about the jobs because foreign countries are right next door & we have to keep this great nation safe for the plumbers & fisherman and our soldiers and their families and lower taxes because we don't want to slip into socialism like the liberal media is calling for every day and raising taxes on real americans just trying to live in thgis great country....

[mdn]

Watch. She will now become very rich.

[Bankenstein]

Allow me to redirect you to another Huffpost article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/09/adn-confirms-palins-story_n_228683.html

"the Governor's office provided us with a detailed breakdown of the millions Palin has claimed has gone to defending against ethics complaints. It does list roughly $1.9 million in expenditures."

"this total was arrived at by adding up attorney hours spent on fending off complaints -- based on the fixed salaries of lawyers in the governor's office and the Department of Law. The money would have gone to the lawyers no matter what they were doing."

[patricksmom]

Palin destroyed Palin.
As various sources have noted the ethics violations didn't cost the state additional money. They were handled by state lawyers. But the truth is so bothersome.

[jake1492]

Palin isn't completely destroyed yet. The capacity of those who have believed in her from the beginning to see past what are obvious signs of incompetence and unfitness is profound. The Saraph Palin phenomenon is all about wishful thinking. Some people are content to wish for a simpler time in which a lot of groups (like blacks and women) knew their place and it was easy to know what to think because someone told you..... Saraph says these things, and no amount of reality being different from the wish will make them change. She has a guaranteed huge audience. Hopefully the larger majority that do value universal principles and reason will be successful in keeping her out of power. GW was SP light.

[Scooter60660]

Palin needs to stay home and give the kids a break from any and all photo opps.

[starkcr31]

Obama needs to stay home and actually work rather than going on his dates and apology tours.

[KT2468]

Sarah Palin is to politics what E! and Star!, and ESPN, are to journalism.

As Noam Chomsky has long said about sports news, it is there to distract non-elites from political concerns that are really important to them and their lives.

Sarah Palin, entertainment news, and sports news, all serve to distract "ordinary folks" from worrying about (what I consider) Republican caused issues like: the economic depression putting them out of work; the war in Iraq killing their sons; the workplace injuries crippling their husbands; the pollution poisoning the game they hunt; and the lack of universal health care to help them stay alive to care for their children.

Sadly, CNN is becoming like E! and Star!.

[clevelandchick]

Noam is so right. If you go on the website of my hometown paper, they list the top ten stories with the most commenting; the top 8 are always sports stories. And Cleveland's teams, except for the Cavs, suck beyond belief. So many people would rather discuss horribly performing sports teams than the news of the day. Pitiful.

[KT2468]

George Bush is the one who spoiled it for Palin, not the media.

George Bush proved wrong the theory that folksy sounding people, with very poor grammar, little knowledge of foreign affairs and a poor work ethic make good or even average presidents.

For president, we need someone really smart, who works really hard, but who can empathize with us regular folk.

[mokachyna]

I couldn't have said it better myself!!!

[hollybork]

Excellent.