Monday, October 20, 2008

SARAH PALIN, JOHN MCCAIN

If Palin Isn't Helping McCain, Why The Big Crowds, Big Ratings, and Big Audiences?

Yesterday on Meet the Press, Colin Powell indicated that he felt Sarah Palin wasn't ready to assume the office of the presidency, and thus was a poor running mate choice for McCain. Later, Andrea* Mitchell cited his comments as further evidence that the Palin pick was hurting McCain.

Balderdash, and fill in your preferred word there.

Palin isn't weighing down McCain; she's what’s keeping him in the game. She's upholding her end of the bargain, while McCain is slipping with all of the swing groups he was supposed to be uniquely positioned to win over.

How is McCain’s decade-long friendly relationship with the Washington press corps working out for him now? How many independents are sticking on board because he’s a maverick? How’s his role in the “Gang of 14” compromise helping him with the usual “he’ll appoint extremist judges” argument? Did all those years of going on Letterman spur any goodwill from Dave once the rubber hit the road? We all know that the national press guaranteed McCain good clips whenever he opposed Bush on campaign finance reform, interrogation techniques, tax cuts, criticism of Rumsfeld, etc.;  but Obama keeps repeating that “he voted with Bush 90/95 percent of the time” line and it sticks.

Meanwhile, Sarah Palin brings Saturday Night Live its best ratings in 14 years.

She drew 10,000 to an airplane hangar in Roswell, New Mexico. (Insert alien-babe joke here.)

She drew 24,000 to Noblesville, Indiana, and 6,500 to an airplane hangar in Bangor, Maine.

She drew 10,000 to Salem, New Hampshire, the same day that Obama was in the same state in Londonderry and drew a little over 4,000.

No offense to any of the other running mate possibilities, but do you think any other pick by McCain would have drawn 60,000 to The Villages in Florida?

You think it's strictly coincidence that almost 70 million people watched the vice-presidential debate? You think Joe Biden is the reason it outdrew all of the Obama-McCain debates? You think the audiences were just watching to see if she was going to implode?

Since it became a two-man race, Obama led consistently, until the Palin pick. Then McCain led for about two weeks. Then the financial crisis really took hold, and Palin didn't help herself by bobbling the Gibson and Couric interviews. But a running mate can only do so much. She was the booster rocket that gave McCain a burst in late August and early September, but that momentum was certain to run out.

Note Palin's detractors never say precisely what she would have to do to improve McCain's chances. It's because she's already doing everything one person can be expected to do.

* I originally referred to her as "Andrew Mitchell." But you knew who I meant. Mrs. Greenspan.

10/20 09:47 AMShare