Palin a Threat, Not a Distraction

1. Sarah Palin is a mortal threat to the possibility of Obama winning, not a distraction. The reason is simple: if she can add a couple of points to McCain from defecting white women and the newly-energized right wing religious base without losing more independent votes, McCain pulls ahead in some key states.

The dangerous tendency of the Obama campaign and its Democratic surrogates is to not fight back, but treat Palin as a "distraction" from McCain, the economy, the issues they feel familiar with, etc.

If they assume that the Palin bubble will return to earth naturally, or that the mainstream media and Saturday Night Live will do the job for them, the Obama campaign is mistaken.

There needs to be a controlled message that treats Palin as an extension of McCain, not a bobble-head to be laughed at.

The message has to cut off independent and women's support for McCain-Palin and, if possible, divide some of the right-wingers. Not an easy task.

Perhaps the point is that we've already suffered eight years under a president Bush and vice-president Cheney who were, in Palin's words, so "wired in a way to be committed to the mission" that they could neither blink nor think. She and McCain, like Bush and Iraq, are faith-based missions that will crash on us.

An excellent editorial in Sunday's NY Times makes the connection from McCain to Palin in terms that will reach independent and moderate voters. It should be quoted and widely circulated. The choice of an unqualified candidate to be a heartbeat from the presidency of a 72 year old man with four melanomas "was shockingly irresponsible," the Times said.

I think we can see in McCain-Palin a kind of faith-based extremism that reminds us of Bush and, even more, the persona of Gen. Custer.

We have seen where righteous faith-based politics goes in the Supreme Court decisions, corruption scandals, the official lies, and the unnecessary wars of the past eight years, all carried out in the name of what both McCain and Palin now call "God's plan."


2. The McCain-Palin foreign policy is a mortal threat to America from the same neoconservatives who brought us Iraq wrapped in lies. Her neocon speechwriters had the audacity to repeat the 2002 claim that Iraq was behind 9/11. She told her son's Iraq-bound troops that "you'll be there to defend the innocent from the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the deaths of thousands of Americans." [NYT, 9/14] This was the original lie of Bush's war.

We cannot give the Republicans an advantage with their false clams of "victory in sight." We have to emphasize the three-trillion dollar cost of the war, and we have to connect the war to the price of oil. Democratic consultants should stop compartmentalizing the economy like it was 1992 all over again.

This is apparently not the advice of the biggest Democratic heavyweights like Bill Clinton and James Carville who tend to revert to "it's the economy, stupid." But it's not 1992. It's the 9/11 era, the Iraq War era, the War on Terrorism era -- and also the middle of the worse economic and energy crisis in memory. The issues are tied together. Not enough people will vote on "lunch bucket" issues if they think McCain-Palin will protect them from terrorists, but they might vote against McCain-Palin if they think they are being lied to again.

Comments

[MalleusMaleficarum]

Tom Hayden is right. Palin is a systemic threat to the Obama-Biden message. Palin is the anti-Obama. A white woman cut out of the same evangelical cloth as most of the Republican base in diametrical opposition to Obama, a black man with a religious and ethnic ambiguity that the white working class finds uncomfortably obscure. No amount of sniping will take Palin out, but a clear definition of her own statements will definitely trigger an implosion. She is for the war, for drilling to help big oil; while she is against healthcare, against women's rights and against diplomacy as a means to prevent more economically crippling wars. The Democrats should focus like a laser beam on foreign policy -- the starkest contrast between the platforms of the two parties. To do this, a series of TV spots should link the war to the economic crisis now descending on the American middle class and tie both to McCain and Palin with their own words.

[pessoptimist]

SAVE DEMOCRACY
VOTE DEMOCRATIC

pass it on, all ye viral types...

[idyl]

I believe the Times article is an excellent place to begin. It feeds into a narrative that already exists and the reckless blundering of the Bush-McCain record: cronyism, inexperience, government performance, cynicism, caving in to religious right, misleading the public, secrecy, lies, and more. For a critique to stick, it has to reference something that is already in the minds of the voter. We all dislike Bush ... so instead of equating Palin-McCain with Bush, why not equate them with the "things" that we dislike about Bush. This is the correct frame. And let's start talking about the war again, that is a HUGE issue for independents.

[sjmaureen]

The times article is great. Right wingers however will not be swayed by it. The repubs have been slick in convincing them that the press is liberal. People buy it especially about the times. McCain & Co. also has hit the media hard since their convention, trust me the radical right won't be swyed by the times. Hopefull some independents will

[jollyelle]

All the more reason to demand the release of McCain's medical records and not to just "some" journalists in a non tech room for only 3 hours. Americans deserve to know the current medical condition and prognosis of the person applying for the position of POTUS.

We also must demand that Sarah Palin release her income tax records...­..just like all the rest of the candidates. ASAP

If it's true that Iran is powering cars with natural gas, they're one step ahead of us-----our executive branch has spent so much time fear-mongering, the supposed big threat country has innovated it's way to save their own resource so they can sell more to us and boost their own economy. All the more reason the Obama Campaign must speak to the ET energy technology ala Friedman so Americans can invent our way out of our current mess. The Democrats are the ones with the keys to the NEW cars of the FUTURE. Let's go........­...we will win.

Obama- FUTURE
McCain-PAST

[ElkoJohn]

`
not only that Tom
if the dems keep referring to Sarah as
just another pretty face, hockey mom with no brains
who was educated in public colleges ,
Spiro Agnew's characterization of dems as
''an effete corps of impudent snobs who characterize themselves as intellectu­als.''
will surface again
,

[CaptainStormfield]

I agree. My objections to Palin have to do with her actions as a small town politician brought onto the stage by the Republican party. She fires public employee's and hires her unqualified friends. Hiding public information. This seems to be a pattern with the religious right. We have seen plenty of that in the Bush administration. Bring ours into power, push the enemy out.

[grendl]

Barack's disconnect is evidenced by his terminology, referring to the internecine tactics of the GOP and elections in general as " silly season".

He doesn't seem to grasp the gravity of Palin, and the negative attacks of the right. Learn from history Mr. Obama, the high road is strewn with the corpses of noble high minded democrats who would not get into the gutter with the lowlifes who would steal this country's reins .

It's not silly season, it is tried and true real politicking. This is a stupid country with ADD, and they feed off the carnage of personal attacks and ridicule. Overestimating the decency of the public will only lose this election for you, and its much too important to lose.

[alienlovesong]

"This is a stupid country with ADD"

Well said! I can't get over how many people think that because Sarah Palin is a mom that she'll give a rat's behind about education or health care. She hasn't yet.

People don't want to read or hear anything about her actual record, but they like her! So once again they vote for another person they want to have a beer with.

[Right-turn]

When Bill Clinton was your guy, and while he was governer of Arkansas, the state ranked 49th out of 50 states. Where was your concern over education then?

[LeftLeftLeft]

But we all know that the minds of the right don't want to listen to the minds of the left. . . . so how in the world do we convince this "child," hands firmly clasped over the ears and screaming "I can't hear you" that the house is on fire and we must escape?

[Right-turn]

We are not children, and we don't need "Parents" such as yourself to run our lives. The right doesn't want the "Nany State" that is your agenda, and ultimate goal. The people that founded this country were independent and took care of themselves. Let's keep government out of our lives as much as possible.

[LilyK]

That's why you shouldn't vote McCain-Palin. Under the present administration -- to be continued should we have the misfortune to have another Republican administration -- like a hydra, government has grown tentacles to reach into all parts of our lives that it has no business interfering in. And the bureacracy, spending and deficit of the government has increased exponentially under the Republicans.

Even your boy, arch conservative Joe Scarborough said in his book, "...most Democrats don't get elected to the White House or Congress by promising to cut spending and taxes while balancing the budget. The fact that Republicans do make this promise every two years makes their bankrupting of America all the more offensive.­"

BTW, what exactly is the "Nany State"?

[sjmaureen]

I will tell you what this financial crisis would not have happened if the feds had some regulation in place. Fannie Mae and freddie Mac used to be governament run. But fell with privatization and why? Because they knew they could act irresponsibly and take huge risks and Then be bailed out.When the government was in charge of them they were successful because the government wasnt playing high risk games.

[MPeter]

It is sad but I did not see White women as this stoopid and bigoted until the McCain-Palin saga. It is absolutely mind-numbing that they would give up all the rights they have won first, to vote for another White Woman and second, to spite anyone not 'Aryan' in the KKK sense, who dared offer all of us a better wordview. Who really, are these White Women? They would rather have a White President who calls them the B nd C word and a VP who denies them control over their bodies.

[BuckeyeGal]

As a white woman, I have been behind Obama since the nomination was between him and Hillary . . .she was simply too easy a target for the diehard Clinton haters (like some of my family members). I don't buy the PUMA excuse that any woman should have gotten the nomination. They never intended to vote for her in the general election anyway, and now they are doing their best to take energy from Obama backers. I too find it problematic that "polls show" x-amount of a demographic group rising in support of candidates who obviously think so little of them as evidenced by their actions (veterans, women, animal advocates, clean energy supporters to name a few).

[Fairfloss]

Governor Sarah Palin, the nominee for Vice President of the GOP, has the Democrat's scared and confused. How do you handle her without alienating the single largest voting bloc of America? Middle class and working Moms and Grandmothers, don't forget them. I don't believe even Hillary could compete with Sarah Palin.

We know that you all are attempting to dig up some dirt on her, but that alone, endears her to us.

You know what, I think the day of the elitist woman maybe over. Mom's in all their glory and hard work maybe just coming into it's own. They are due their rewards.

The traditional family is still the foundation of America and we know it.

[laurinek]

Regardless of the traditional family, I don't want an unqualified President and she does not come close. If they win and this woman has power all who voted for her deserve what comes. And yes I'm scared that they will win because the Republicans have been lying and tricking you for years. They give to lobbyists and big corporations and care nothing about you. And that is the truth, not an opinion, whether you see it or not.

[BBackSoon]

I am all for women in power, but this is not the right woman. She is power hungry, mean and vindictive. She is so sure that her way is the only way and she will sabotage anyone that gets in her way. That is politics as usual wearing a skirt.

Go ahead and describe Traditional Family Values. I bet your answer differs from my definition.

[alienlovesong]

Fairfloss, THANK you for helping to cement the stereotype of the female Palin supporter: Unwilling to look at what she actually stands for or does and completely willing to cut your nose off to spite someone else's face. It's great to vote for someone who thinks like you - and is dreadfully unqualified for the job.

Congratulations!

[LilyK]

Yes, Gov. Palin has us scared -- not because of what she brings to the campaign but because she is George Bush with lipstick.

She has a simplistic, us-against-them mentality (I can't term hers or Bush's a "worldview" because that would be a gross overstatement). The idea that she didn't "blink" when asked about being on the ticket as Vice President -- that she didn't want, at least overnight, to consider the ramifications on her family -- which includes a pregnant 17-year-old and high school dropout father and a 4-month-old special needs infant -- nor whether her skimpy resume was up to the task -- makes her a carbon copy of Dubya. Neither are burdened with self-introspection or the complexities of strategic analysis but, rather, justify their swaggering bellicosity as a mission from God.

[boing007]

You know what, I think the day of the elitist woman maybe over. Mom's in all their glory and hard work maybe just coming into it's own. They are due their rewards.

The traditional family is still the foundation of America and we know it.

Will that include recipes for mooseburgers and how to shoot wolves from a helicopter?

[eileenphoto]

I'm a UK (or GB) resident and it strikes me that the Iraq situation has done the Dems work for them vis a vis this election. Truly, everybody knows.
This Palin woman is interesting but, sacrificing her two eldest on the altar of Rebublican values? A grunt in the desert is tough punishment for whatever he did and a little sex education and the morning after pill would have changed that young woman's life.
People don't want to see that kind of thing.