Sarah Palin, Regurgitated

A gem on the Paulson bailout plan from Maureen Dowd,

Who would have dreamed that when socialism finally came to the U.S.A. it would be brought not by Bolsheviks in blue jeans but Wall Street bankers in Gucci loafers?

who further skewers the McCain-Palin ticket with this:

McCain was so aggressively erratic as he did his free-form break dance around the economy last week that it seemed the only possible explanation was that he was creating a wild diversion to distract people from Sarah Palin’s stunningly junior varsity appearance with Katie Couric.

Speaking of which, here indeed is Jack Cafferty presenting the now-famous Katie Couric interview of Ms. Palin:



I think it would be fair to say that at no other time in US electoral history has the choice of a presidential running mate been so harmful to the chances of the ticket than this. Judging by his actions, John McCain really is a big time gambler (in more ways than one!) but I doubt that this is one bet he would place again.

In a conversation with McCain campaigner Rick Davis two weeks ago, Hugh Hewitt thought that Sarah Palin is ready for prime time (if only we could get rid of those pesky pro-Obama press people who run Prime time). But even the National Review Online columnists appear to be nonplussed by Ms. Palin's now obvious deficiencies as revealed in several unscripted interviews with "friendlies" like Sean Hannity. For example Mona Charen:

"Palin was atrocious not just with Katie Couric but with friendlies like Sean Hannity. She needs to devise answers for questions about foreign policy that do NOT rely on recent cramming. That will look and sound false. She may make stupid errors. And it plays to her weakness. She should never again refer to her Alaska experience as preparation for the role of commander in chief."

Many of these good folks have taken to coaching her and McCain campaign handlers on how to solve a problem like Sarah Palin (Jonah Goldberg), where again the problem seems to be with the Press and not the candidate for vice-prez...

I basically agree with Mona, though I don't think the Sean appearance was 'atrocious.' That said, I'm with the Free Sarah Palin crowd. That doesn't mean you have to dance to the MSM's tune. But I've been totally flummoxed why they haven't been putting her on conservative talk radio and, more importantly, on local news stations. If the McCain strategists actually believe any of this elitist-vs-populist stuff when it comes to Palin, why not actually have a media strategy that conforms to that story line? The Bush campaign was very good at 'going over the head' of the MSM in 2000 and 2004. The MSM even helped by shrieking their displeasure about it. Why not do the same thing with Palin? This would be a dual track strategy: it would help her get her groove on, and it would force the MSM to whine that this bumpkin from the hustings doesn't show them due deference, which always makes the press look bad.

Yeah Katie, it's all your fault Sarah Palin looks like a dumber and dumber choice every day..