From Andrew Sullivan
Former McCain advisor Mike Murphy speaks out:
I think she’ll ultimately be a polarizer. After last night’s smash, Republicans are in deep love. Nothing thrills ‘em like a good “us vs. them” speech. But I’d guess that most Democrats had the opposite reaction. In a year where the Democrat generic numbers are 10+ points better than the Republican, I don’t like the math of a strategy that just polarized the election along party base lines. Among the vital sliver of voters in the middle, I think Palin’s rock solid social conservatism will be a turn off. And while voters may value vision over experience, Palin’s inexperience is a weakness, denying McCain an argument that has been helping him against Obama.
3 comments:
Good for him for not trying to backpedal from his "off the record" assessment. (Peggy Noonan is such a hack.)
palin got mccain exactly what he wanted--air time right after barack's historic speech, which did not the coverage it was due. the complexity and brilliance of that speech took days to sink in but the media barely had time to analyze it. anyway, palin's celebrity attention will be short-lived and they know it. she is back to alaska next week and still not available to reporters. obviously they don't trust her to talk to them without significant coaching.
I have to think that Murphy's disappointed with the direction McCain has chosen to go in. He's probably still smarting at the way the Bushies savaged McCain in 2000, and it must hurt to see the guy he worked for pull in that same evil crowd. Palin's probably the last straw--the ultimate sop to the religious right.
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