McCain's 'Stop Sarah Palin' strategy working like a charm, polls show

Fresh evidence tonight that the brilliant McCain campaign strategy to lock away the political effervescence of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to stoke overconfidence among the nation's Democrats and set the stage for yet another improbable Arizona comeback is working exactly as planned.

For more than 10 days now the 44-year-old mother of five, who upset the ancient Republican establishment in Alaska two years ago by driving herself to campaign events and talking to pretty much any group that would have her, has been cut off from normal Americans who watched her by the many millions give a spunky speech at the Republican National Convention and then overnight turned her name into seven of the top 10 search terms on Google.

But John McCain's strategists had a better idea than letting Palin be Palin. They set her up with TV reporters born to ask questions until they found some she couldn't answer.

No doubt the campaign's idea was to show the hockey mom was pretty much like any other American who couldn't recall Marbury vs. Madison if their cellphone depended on it.

Wait, come to think of it, the other vice presidential candidate didn't cite a famous Supreme Court case by name either. But never mind. We don't want to confuse the conventional Palin storyline.

So the pressure is even greater for Thursday night's sole vice presidential debate between Palin and Democrat Joe Biden, the senator from somewhere who wears his hair down pretty much all the time.

The Washington Post published a new poll this morning showing that six out of 10 Americans now see Palin's two years as governor of the largest state as insufficient experience to become president.

Almost half the voters polled expressed discomfort with McCain's age and, of those, 85% found Palin too inexperienced to take over. A third of those polled now say they're less likely to vote for McCain because of Palin. It's almost like a dream, it's working so well. A previous Times poll showed little Palin effect on female voters.

Our colleague Mark Silva over at the Swamp reports on a separate Pew Research Center poll that also shows this Hanoi strategy unfolding perfectly. Confidence in Palin's ability to lead has plummeted from 52% in early September before the imprisonment of Palin to 37% now.

It's not all good news though. The Pew poll finds 70% view Palin as down-to-earth, vs. only 55% for the gaffey guy who's been a yabbering senator with congressional perqs since Palin was eight years old.

Also discouraging for the McCain camp must be the finding of a new Marist Poll, described by the Swamp's same Silva. It reveals that while a plurality (45%) expect Biden to perform better in the debate and a majority (61%) expect him to show a greater understanding of issues, compared to Palin's 36% and 28%, nearly two out of three expect Palin to come across as more likeable, compared to Biden's measly 23% anticipated likeability.

To facilitate the latest McCain plunge into oblivion by Nov. 4, the hockey mom is clearly going to have to do something outrageous during the debate to drive down her likeability. Maybe talk innocently about hairplugs. Or let slip something about her home state being 279 times larger than, say, Delaware. 

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo credit: Office of the Alaska Governor

Comments

[JimAC]

It's a sad commentary on what conservative ideology has done to political discourse in this country when I can't be entirely sure if this article is from The Onion. But just in case Mr. Malcolm is serious, it's worth adding that the population of Delaware is 27% larger than that of Alaska (US Census Estimate for July 1, 2006). It's not all about size, sir. Unless you consider Gov. Palin to be 6 times more qualified as an executive than the Prime Minister of Britain, 3.7 times more qualified than Ronald Reagan when he was Governor of California, and over twice as qualified as Texas Governor George W. Bush. Though I could give you that last one, since zero doubled is still zero.

[JC]

Let's hope Mrs. Palin can effectively multitask between planning the wedding of her pregnant teen to another teen; finding the perfect shade of lipstick for tonight's debate; and balancing her VP position between faking her way through substantive issues and shooing all those peskie Russians from the White House lawn. Especially since she won't be in Alaska anymore keeping her eye north.

[J Cline]

I don't find Palin to be any less experienced than Obama. Why the media double-standard?

Oh yeah, I forgot. Most reporters, secretly or obviously, are pulling for an "historic" Obama win. Never mind that a Palin win would be equally historic -- no, no, we want the black man. He's higher on the affirmative action ladder.

Obama does have more experience at being condescending to women, many of whom are too stupid to see it. Others do, and they are voting for McCain.

[check it out]

Interesting point about Alaska 'having 600,000 residents, less than a suburb of LA. What's so great about being a Governor of Alaska?' Seems the largest 20 U.S. cities have populations equal to or larger than the entire state of Alaska. I guess any of those fine mayoral executives are now officially 'presidential material.'

[Arthur]

It is hard to see what McCain could have done that made Palin seem to be someone that she isn't. They have also tried to make McCain seem like an economic pundit, but that has flopped fairly spectacularly as well. When I look at the oddly pointed bald head of Steve Schmidt I find my mind wandering away from his campaign happy talk. The shape of a man's head should not matter, but when what he is saying is so relentlessly silly, one's attention just sort of wanders. And then Saturday Night Live weighed in. Now we learn that many of Tina Fey's lines were actually direct quotes from... Sarah Palin. And back in Alaska we learn from someone who did answer a subpoena that Palin's husband was following her former brother-in-law around trying to take incriminating pictures to prove he was not disabled. They got his disability blocked, but he later won an appeal and the state paid for a needed operation. Wonderful. Todd Palin, small-town vigilante, on the cusp of having enormous power to pursue future vendettas. Sound eerily like Dick Cheney to you?

[Hernan M Martinez]

What is amazing to me is that Barack Obama who has spent only 143 days of 4 years "working" in the Senate is considered qualified to run the country. As a State Senator, he voted "present" most of the time. And of course he was a very mediocre community organizer. It shows me that even if you have no guts, you can still get the glory. It also teaches our kids that the top job is always available to an empty suit . Only in leftist America can sexism be selectively used to destroy a capable woman candidate. I guess we are in Orwellian times when a mediocrity like Obama is the best we can do.

[trey_trey]

one last thing... what everyone of you fail to realize, is that none of this matters. america will not elect obama, period. it dont matter what the right does. it just wont happen.

[Michael Bishop]

I love political dialogue. I enjoy debating politics, especially with those with whom I disagree. And I even appreciate the breezy wanton style of blogs. However, the only way a posting such as Mr. Malcolm`s makes sense to me is if either 1) he really believes such biased drivel 2) he is now or will be paid in money or favors by someone to write something that he knows is intellectually dishonest or 3) he wants to support the McCain bid by any means necessary, including undermining the journalistic standards that he presumably learned at some point in his career. I suppose the most charitable explanation would be that he really believes that Palin is somehow just as qualified as Biden to run this country. If that's the case, then Mr. Malcolm need not worry. For otherwise, it would be unfortunate if, when the time comes and all the benefits that accrued from such hack "journalism" have been long since spent, Mr. Malcolm would find himself left with nothing but a thin conscience for having spent so much time eroding the foundation of political discourse. I am glad for him, then, that he really believes it. Too bad for us that we have to read it.

[Steve Burleson]

The folks who complain about Palin's inexperience are missing one vital point. The Presidency is an executive position. None of the others - Obama, Biden or McCain have any executive experience. We should be electing somebody with 20 years of leadership experience, but don't fault Palin for having only 2 years supervising 24,000 state employees when the others have zip, zero, nada.

Oh, by the way - Obama's claim to fame is being a community organizer? That organization he worked for - ACORN - is under investigation in 12 states for criminal activity. Great resume....

[Mike L]

Yes, Palin's done a wonderful job of appearing to be uninformed and out of touch.

Brilliant strategy.

[JustSomeGuy]

Vir: I think you mean America will be dumber for it. Now, I'm sure SOMEONE will get richer from a McCain/Palin win, but it certainly isn't America and it certainly isn't anyone making under "5 million a year".

After seeing the truth of this women, I have only one thing to say: Who knew that the movie Idiocracy was non-fiction??

[bob wright]

I see a couple of recent comments taking up the theme of media bias in this piece (Disappointed Reader, and Guardian) who feel that analyzing Palin's fall from grace is "making news rather than reporting it" and so on. You see this all the time now - angry citizens who think that the op-ed page is supposed to contain objective news and who cite any opinion that appears in any medium that is contrary to their own as evidence of bias. Thus, the rantings of Keith Olbermann count as 'bias' in their eyes, whereas the, um, information supplied to them by the ideological monoculture of chat radio is 'telling it like it is'. Or something. The effort to detect 'news bias' in a piece that is actually implying that McCain is mishandling a positive asset, and that Palin has been made to look bad by her campaign's fear of letting her be seen is just an effort to shove a square peg into a round hole. The Palin-loving readers aren't quite sure what the writer is saying, but they're pretty sure they don't like the sound of it, and that it must therefore be 'bias', or whatever other inappropriate slogan can be gummed onto it.

[Marie]

Just another editorial from a newspaper that is in the tank for Obama, who is always bringing up what they would like to be considered as Sarah Palin's inexperience, and inaptitude, but they let Barack Obama slide on everything from HIS inexperience, and HIS inaptitude, which is obvious everytime he is not in front of a teleprompter, to his socialistic friends, to his racist, loud mouthed pastor, And wife, and everything in between. It is sickening, but it looks like 50% of Americans are falling for it. Oh well, if you don't care about your freedoms, then get prepared for the worst. Mark My Words, if Obama is elected president, then the worst WILL come.

[JoeW]

In the new era of the blog, this is fascinating satire at it's best!

The "weaker" elements on both the consevative and liberal sides are exosed here. To paraphrase the movie the Six Sense - "AND THEY DON'T KNOW THEIR DEAD".

[Sam Solsone]

McCain has already stated he doesn't understand economics, it's not his strong suit. But the top issue for almost every american has to be the financial melt down now underway due to eight years of massive banking industry deregulation.

McCain's chief financial advisor is Phil Gramm who pushed to eliminate the Glass Stegal act (GSA) with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. This eliminated the GSA restrictions against affiliations between commercial and investment banks. Phil Gramm is the same guy who recently described our condition as a "mental recession" and Americans as a "nation of whiners".

McCain doesn't need Sarah Palin to lose; he's lost the confidence of most American's already since he still argues for four more years of Bush deregulation, tax cuts for the rich and war without end.

Sam

[Krista Kurtz]

Andrew,

You are more bracing than my first cup of Swedish brew! Ignore the disparaging remarks: I recognized the biting satire immediately, and chuckled all the way to breakfast!

[Rachel]

Laugh Out Loud ! ,, there shoud be something titled Obama's skeletons in the closet , perhaps there is none people just need to realize that he is the right man for the job wether you like him or not based on race or his middle name it just goes to show what americans will say / do in order to make someone look bad i mean come on they tried saying he was a musslim due to his middle name anything to turn the tables , also Mc Cain is no innosence in this election , WAKE UP PEOPLE voting for Mc Cain is like giving george bush another wack at it think about that GOD !

[Bipp]

TommyF, you are waaaaay too paranoid. If you listen to any right wing talk radio host, including those on TV like Sean Hannity and Glen Beck, you would realize that Obama is not exempt from scrutiny, and democrat-pointed satire is alive and kicking.

It's really not the dems fault that Sarah Palin is so dang newsworthy. I really don't think that the media is biased either way: They're just sharks looking for a good, gossipy story.

[Krista Kurtz]

Andrew,

You are more bracing than my first cup of Swedish brew! Ignore the disparaging remarks: I recognized the biting satire immediately, and chuckled all the way to breakfast!

[bipp]

TommyF, you are waaaaay too paranoid. If you listen to any right wing talk radio host, including those on TV like Sean Hannity and Glen Beck, you would realize that Obama is not exempt from scrutiny, and democrat-pointed satire is alive and kicking.

It's really not the dems fault that Sarah Palin is so dang newsworthy. I really don't think that the media is biased either way: They're just sharks looking for a good, gossipy story.

[Sarah]

"We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism." ~ Nikita Krushchev
God help us if Obama wins. I will be living in communism twice in a lifetime. People like me can smell them a mile away and that is what Obama smells like.

[RJ]

Obama/Biden 08

One word sums up probably the responsibility of any vice president, and that one word is to be prepared.

Dan Quayle

[Curious Orange]

The elephants know that they own the voting machines.
Keep it close enough (12%) and they sleaze their way in again.

[mike burke]

Just what the country needs...a snake handling Pentecostal with an anti-witchcraft spell protecting her. As I understand it Pentecostals are NOT living for this life, they live for the next one (after life/heaven). I have yet to meet a Pentecostal that won't admit this. I don't want this persons finger on the button after old 'Johnny wet start' departs this mortal coil. Georgie Bush in my estimation is a "Pentecostal of convenience" who lives in THIS life (the real one). If this "Moose dresser" gets her hands on the football...go to ground! Come to think of it, maybe we should all invest our money in companies that build fallout shelters.

[Thomas F. Burnickas]

When the world bad guys are knocking at our door, who do you want as your leader. McCain, or a person you don't really know anything about? Think hard and long, your life may depend on it. The liberal media refuses to really, question Obama, He can only do one thing, and that is talk, with a teleprompter. He has no experience on anything accept getting things for free. This election will really tell if the Americans, who vote, (most are slugs and will not).

[Ruby Freeman]

Obama has a few months in the Senate was a "communuity organizer, state legislator cannot complete a sentence correctly and hems and haws all the time. Cannot stand straight and put his hand over his heart to say the pledge to the flag of the USA. He is the disgrace, not Sarah Palin. Charlie Gibson was rude and asked questions he would not ask Obama. Katie Couric is not a great interviewer and the women on "the View are one group of rude and obnoxious women. I am voting for character and experience and that is McCain Palin. America first , preserve jobs, support a strong military, get the economy rolling, quit handing money to do nothings. RWF

[bipp]

J.Cline,
Seriously, you don't find Sarah Palin less experienced than Barack Obama?

Ok, let's look at Obama's experience and credentials:
-Graduated from Harvard Law School
-Community organizer; registered over 150,000 new voters
-Spent 12 years as a Constitutional Law Professor
-Illinois State Senator for 8 years, representing a district of over 750,000
-Chairman of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee
-4 years as a US Senator, representing 13 million people and sponsored 131 bills
-Was on the Foreign Affairs, Public Works, Environment, and Veteran's Affairs Commitee

In contrast, Sarah Palin's experience and credentials:
-Bachelor's degree in journalism, gotten through 5 different small colleges.
-Local weather girl
-4 years on city council
-6 years as mayor of Wasilla, a town of ~6,000 at the time
-20 months as govenor of a state with ~650,000 people

I don't know, but the disparity between experience is pretty clear.

[Ron]

McCain/Pailin...." One thinks in the past and the other doesn't think at all" Has a nice ring to it.

[peabody3000]

andrew, being a neocon is requiring you to contort your thought patterns into quite a mess there. yes, a small pat on the back for recognizing that statistically, few regard palin as capable, but a sharp poke in the ribs for trying to counter that with an argument concerning alaskan square mileage. at least you arent repeating the shamefully silly nearby-to-russia tripe. please note that democrats really dont have to make embarrassingly convoluted points like that, while so many republicans are seemingly forced to day after day after day. what a pitiful existance that must be.... sigh.

[Chris Poulson]

Lest we Democrats become too smug about the McPain campaign don't forget the habardasher from Independence, MO who was plucked from nowhere to be VP to a man who was statistically expected not to survive his term in office. The ghost of Captain Harry from Horse Company D is, I am sure, grinning right now.

[Curious Orange]

Communist, socialist so what? Our country is now fascist

[Maggie]

What is the point of this article? Was I supposed to come away with a more nuanced understanding of something? Or come away with a renewed feeling of resentment toward someone? Journalism seems to work better when readers are taken seriously...something I don't see much of these days.

[Mispah]

Amercans are tired of mind games, spin, deceit, drama and betrayal. This all we been gettng from George Bush for the last eight yrs. Now, it appears that McCain is picking up the baton and trying to continue the Bush legacy for 4 more years. We don't need any more gimmicks from desperate politicians. John McCain please suspend your campaign for good.

I believe Governor Palin is not qualified for the Presidency or Vice Presidency of the United States. God help us if something unfortunate were to happen to Senator McCain. A lot of people will watch the VP debate tonight to learn more about Sarah Palin. I believe Governor Palin will do well in the debate, because she will repeat sound bites, memorized attack lines, use sarcasm, and divert us from focusing on her lack of knowledge. You can expect Sarah Palin to put a huge forcus on narrative and mean spirited jokes about the oppositon . We will learn very little tonight about the unscripted Sarah Palin.

[Let's Get Real]

The media failed this country after 9/11, too cowardly to report the truth of the Bush administration and they are failing us now with their heavily biased coverage during the primaries and the Presidential race. They have no abiltiy to self-examine themselves. And there is no real reporting anymore--it's all opinion. America deserves better.

[kuriakose pulikeel]

It is not Palin. Palin is a very hardworking, bold and adventerous young American mother and polititian who is to be admired by all. However the job of Vice president (and may be President) of Anerica is not a job that Sarah Palin should be called upon to perform at this time. As a person who take risks and who wants to do her best for the country she came forward when called by McCain

It is McCain and the dangerous "UNAmerican" "right"wing who did the wrong thing.This irresponsible nomination of Palin to Vice presidency. It is like the story of an ireresponsible doctor couple who allowed their 12 year old son to operate on their patients. McCain is doing nothing short of Gambling with America's future.
McCain by this act besides several others in his life has proved beyond doubt that he is unrliable and unfit for the job of president. He is a soldier who may have all good intentions but do not know how to fight a fair war and fails. Then plays all games and gimmicks to stay on boardby fooling others; like nominating a person like Sarah Palin; His only logic behind the choice appears to be to cheat American public with her charisma rather than her maturity and knowledge required for the job; a calculation that Clinton supporters will vote for Paline because she is a woman. A sinister and stupid calculation that American women are stupid. He will be proven wrong

Sarah Paline should be encouraged to continue her nice job as Governor and grow. McCain should be rejected because he gambles with Americans. let Palin's self esteem be not hurt. Give credit for what she is and what she has accomplished in her life

[peabody3000]

i think andrew has given up on providing coherent commentary and is resorting to to merely baiting liberal readers. what else can he really do if his heart is still so set on a victory for this joke of a GOP ticket?

[JC]

The media officially died in 2008! That's why newspaper sales are plummeting, viewship at major news stations are plummeting, and they are laying people off in droves...which is wonderful! You can give yourself a pat on the back, Andrew Malcolm, for being such a big part of that!

[BubbaBob]

Malcolm has cracked under the strain! Malcolm thinks that the staggering, lurching false starts of the campaign that he is cheerleading for are actually 'brilliant' strategic feints. Malcolm believes (with all of his feeble might) that his "team" is sacrificing chessmen in a subtle and cleverly devised plan to lure their opponents into "Checkmate!"

Malcolm then spews this gem: "They set her up with TV reporters born to ask questions until they found some she couldn't answer." Yeah, right Malcolm! Sean Hannity just HAMMERED her with the tough ones! Katie Couric is the very epitome of hard nosed, hard hitting journalism! Charlie Gibson is a veritable journalistic barracuda! They all went straight for the jugular, right? What a joke!

Here is a clue, Malcolm: The "team" you are rooting for is not all that bright. It is unlikely that McCain can even play chess, much less do so with something that could pass for a strategy. Even Rove's "strategies" are more like shouting "A terrorist!" then snatching his opponents pieces from the gameboard when everyone turns to look where he is pointing.

Just a refresher here: McCain finished fifth in his class at Annapolis...FROM THE BOTTOM! Realize that many instructors will massage grades upwards for legacy students, and saving a family that includes a pair of four star admirals the shame of having their offspring flunked out can be significant motivation to an instructor puzzling his way through incomprehensible garbage that gets handed in in place of a term paper. The bottom 1% of any class is always the dregs, and for a legacy student to be among them suggests that he deserved an "F" on more than one occasion, but was mercifully spared being kicked out by being given the minimum passing grade.

Next point: A journalism degree may be a step up from a business degree in terms of how rigorous the program is, but it isn't all that big of a step. The journalism and business programs at most universities are filled out with deadbeats, partiers and morons. As a rule, few of the students that end up pursuing business or journalism majors could cut it in a law, medicine, science or engineering program. The business and journalism programs are often the cash cows for a university, with the students processed en masse and with easy entry requirements ("Can you pay?"), many classes taught by cheap adjunct faculty and with the diplomas rubber stamped. That Palin had to go to FIVE different second and third tier schools just to get a bachelor's in journalism tells quite a lot about her intellect.

By the way, Malcolm; how are you feeling about your "story" the other day concerning Biden resigning from the race to be replaced by Hillary? How does it feel to be the sucker who swallowed the bait (hook, line and sinker!) trolled by a couple FM radio shock-jocks? I know that you are desperate for ANY shred of positive news for your "team", but to hang your credibility (if you have any) on crazy stuff like this is...crazy! If you keep saying crazy things, people will start to think that you are a cranky, crazy old man.

[Goober]

No matter who you're voting for, you have to admit this was a horribly written article. The first post is right - I began to suspect it was satire about halfway through reading it, but only became sure when I was done.

[Paul]

"Wait, come to think of it, the other vice presidential candidate didn't cite a famous Supreme Court case by name either"

Blogs in this day and age give a voice to any idiot that can say any untruth that he or she wants. Take a look at the CBS interview where Couric asks both VP Candidates the say exact question. Guess which candidate gives meaningful answers and is able to cite another supreme court case....

CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4493093n

[Dave]

I'm not sure I understand what the hell the author is trying to convey, but I *am* sure I couldn't care less and am even surer still he shouldn't be writing for a publication that isn't written in crayon.

Boy. Just drivel.

[Don]

Politics aside. That was some crappy writing. Your satire sucks (Almost as bad as Obama and the LA Times)

[Jon Iscream]

Who cares what the population of a Gulag is. Warden of a million prisoners is not qualified to be Governor of a State. Some think that being a community agitator and the most Junior Senator qualifies you to be President of the USA, if you are Black! Barack could never be the Democrat candidate for Pres if he were not black. Can we not elect his communist white half?

[Kay B. Day]

Gosh, I hope they remember to tell Palin how many states are in the U.S. and maybe they'll remind her Russia does have a veto in the UN and maybe they could replay those tapes of Obama in Jerusalem where he easily could've caused a meltdown but oh, that's right, media somehow downplayed the Jerusalem factor. I bet Biden told Obama how many states we have tho. Maybe Biden can talk about North Korea, or the Balkans. Or maybe Iraq. He was a disaster on all three counts.

Tonight should be fun. If Obama wins, moderator Gwen Ifill's new book will be a runaway best-seller!

[Ron Sampson]

Brilliant???!?? More like desperate! An entirely foolish choice for running mate- they're hiding her as damage control took over following the Couric interview. She'll hold her own during the debate, as likely that is all she has been rehearsing for the past week and one half- but the GOP has clearly been embarased, thrown off kilter and only the profiteering extremists (limbaugh, hannity, coulter, etc) are still selling this type of BS that they've got any chance.....they'll put more lipstick on this pig, but it's still a pig!

[Rodger Lemonde]

Palin is a wreck on the highway. Nobody wants to see one but if there is one, no one wants to miss it.
She is also McCain's protection from assassination. Even the criminally insane won't want her to become president.

[Abe]

You might want to take another look at your constraint on the photo you used of her, it's stretched out of proportion to make her look...well fat. If you look at the original image you can see the difference. I'm sure it was an honest mistake. *wink* *wink*

[Redneck4Obama]

People say they like Palin's confidence. I don't know about you, but the combination of stupidity and confidence is not a good thing.
Isn't that what we had with the last 8 years? Now look where we're at!!! Remember Bush saying "the economy is strong, the war on terrorist is in Iraq, yadda,yadda,yadda". If I have to REMIND you then your too darn dumb to be voting anyway!

Does GOP= THE DUMBING DOWN of AMERICA!?!?

McCain=Dumb and Hotheaded
Palin= Dumber and Overconfident

[Geek, Esq.]

From an intelligent observer of politics, this would be taken as satire.

From Andrew Malcolm, it's just self-parody. Mr. Malcolm makes Hugh Hewitt look like Walter Cronkite.

[Jesse M]

Isn't it pretty much impossible to understand how there can be people who haven't yet decided how they'll vote? But getting back to Sarah: She's another McCain publicity stunt that is backfiring. Sarah is the star high school quarterback who was dumped into a SuperBowl. It's not right for her, it's not right for America. Sarah didn't campaign long and hard (as the major candidates did)...she hasn't earned a shot at the White House. I'm not a political person, but if I were...I can tell you I'd never let my party, whichever one it is, cloud my judgment to the extent it would have to be clouded to vote for someone as ill-prepared as Sarah.