The Reason Sarah Palin's Numbers are Low

[deacon blues]

There is no question Sarah Palin boosted John McCain's numbers immediately after the Democrat Convention in Denver. The "Palin Effect" helped eliminate any post-convention bounce BO might have enjoyed.

But the McCain campaign made a tactical error. They kept Gov. Palin from speaking to the media. Then when the campaign caved to the whining of the mainstream press, they scehduled two interviews with Charles Gibson and Katie Couric. Bad call. Gibson and Couric, immersed in the East Coast media elite were given the chance to conduct interviews designed to embarrass Ms. Palin. Then the McCain campaign kept her away from the media for too long again. Gov. Palin became an object of ridicule.

Weekly SNL skits making fun, late night talk show monologue jokes, Hollywood award shows scoffing at her, non-stop news articles nit picking every little detail of her life took its toll. Its hard to shake a negative image once pop culture gets its hands on you and pours on the ridicule and degradation.

I've talked to people in the public square about the election and they will respond that their biggest concern about voting for McCain is Palin. Incredulous, I ask why. They respond wih something like "She scares me." or "She's not ready to be President." All the while I'm countering their arguments using their logic against them.

"Are you scared more by the fact Palin doesn't read the NY Tiimes and has been wearing expensive, borrowed clothes, or that Obama wants to 'spread the wealth', raise taxes in a down economy, has very questionable associations and alliances with some very dubious characters, etc.?" I point out the desparity between the argument she isn't qualified to be President as a VP candidate all the while Obama is even less qualified and is at the top of the ticket.

What the McCain campaign should have done was allow Ms. Palin to be interviewed by friendlier and fair news agencies and journalists. Local news anchors seem to be more objective these days than the national boys.

The character assassination of Sarah Palin has been effective. Yet she continues to smile, wow her audiences, and speak strongly and convincingly about the stark contrast between Obama and McCain. Add to that the economic tsunami that occured in late September and its amazing that some polls have McCain within the margin of error. Its still going to be a close call in the end, but not in spite of Sarah Palin, rather because of her.

Obama should he win will be a one term president or at least will lose his majority in Congress. The last two times the Democrats had the White House and majorities in Congress was under Clinton in '92 and within two years ahd been so liberal, lost both the House and Senate to the GOP. The other time was Carter in '76 with a majority in the House and a supermajority in the Senate. Well, we know how that turned out.