Inside Politics

By Greg Pierce - The Washington Times - Monday, October 6, 2008

’Star turn’

“The sound you hear is the grinding teeth of Sarah Palin’s media critics after her debate with Joe Biden,” writes John Fund at www.opinionjournal.com.

“Not that Mr. Biden was trounced by the ingenue governor. A master of Beltwayspeak and talking points, he effectively presented his case for change. But on style he couldn’t possibly compete with the effervescent Mrs. Palin, and he knew it. He heightened the contrast between his somber self and her Happy Warrior personality by bringing up ’my 35 years of service in public office’ - reminding viewers just how much he is part of the Washington that Mrs. Palin railed against,” Mr. Fund said.

“Mrs. Palin clearly enjoyed her second star turn on the national stage. Unlike Mr. Biden, she directly faced the camera and addressed the American people. When telling viewers that she had disagreements with Mr. McCain - on oil drilling in Alaska, for example - but would keep working to change his mind, she even allowed herself to wink at her audience. That’s the mark of a self-confident pro.

“As for her media critics, Mrs. Palin took them on by reminding moderator Gwen Ifill that she would answer the questions the way she wanted to, not the way other people wanted her to. As the debate wrapped up, she thanked its organizers for allowing her to speak directly to the American people without the ’filter’ of the mainstream media. That was a clever way of deflecting attention from her recent choppy and unfocused interview with CBS’s Katie Couric and was a guaranteed crowd pleaser with the conservative base.”

Overt prejudice

“After the vice-presidential debate ended, as the TV jurors started delivering their verdicts, Sarah Palin and Joe Biden were joined on stage by their families. Nothing unusual there - except the history-making picture of Palin hugging her 5-month-old son while sharing chitchat with Biden,” New York Daily News columnist Michael Goodwin writes.

“Freeze the frame and savor its remarkable collection of milestones,” Mr. Goodwin said. “They start with the fact that Palin is only the second woman to be on a major-party national ticket. She is the first who would take office as the mother of five children, the oldest being 19.”

“History doesn’t just happen in the 2008 campaign. It is happening in mind-numbing, holy cow, what-next bunches. The changes are coming so fast we hardly take notice. Is America really going to elect a black president? Two years ago, that was unthinkable. Now it’s very likely as Barack Obama has seized the momentum 30 days from the election.

“But before we sprain our shoulders patting ourselves on the back for our color-blind, bias-free selves, let’s acknowledge that certain prejudices are far from taboo. In fact, in some quarters they are ascendant and celebrated.

“I’m thinking of the overt, outrageous prejudice that infuses some of the contempt on the left for Palin. Scrape away the surface excuses and much of it is because she is a Republican. And an anti-abortion one at that. How dare she! That the bias comes from people we think of as sophisticated makes it disappointing, but not surprising. After all, contempt for Republicans is the only socially acceptable prejudice remaining among many educated people today.

“A celebrated retired journalist, a man I’ve long admired, was surprised when I told him I hadn’t decided whom to vote for. ’You’re too smart to vote for John McCain,’ he said, thereby insulting 50 million Americans.”

Not over yet

“The odds are against John McCain and Sarah Palin winning this election. It’s not easy to make up a 6-point deficit in the last four weeks. But it can be done,” writes William Kristol in the Weekly Standard.

“Look at history. The Gore-Lieberman ticket gained about 6 points in the final two weeks of the 2000 campaign. Ford-Dole came back more than 20 points in less than two months in the fall of 1976. Both tickets were from the party holding the White House, and both were running against inexperienced, and arguably risky, opponents,” Mr. Kristol said.

“What’s more, this year’s race has already - twice - moved by more than 6 points over a span of only a few weeks. The race went from McCain up 2 (these are the Real Clear Politics averages) on September 14 to Obama plus 6 on October 2, less than three weeks later. In the four weeks before that, the race had moved from Obama plus 5 on August 12 to McCain plus 2 on September 12.

“So while there’s reason for McCain-Palin supporters to worry, there’s no reason to despair.

“Despair is what the Obama campaign is hoping and working for. If a campaign can convince supporters of the other candidate that the race is effectively over, the enthusiasm and volunteer efforts drop off - as does, ultimately, their turnout on Election Day.

“Just as important, undecided and loosely affiliated voters become persuaded there’s no real contest and lose any incentive to look closely at the candidates. This explains the efforts of the Obama campaign - aided by a colluding media - to sell the notion that the race is over, that McCain supporters should give up, and undecided voters should tune out.”

’Red’ state

Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s brother made an apparent joke at a campaign rally this weekend that might not play well in parts of newly competitive Virginia, the Associated Press reports.

Joe McCain,, speaking at an event in support of his brother, called two Democratic-leaning areas in Northern Virginia “communist country.”

“I’ve lived here for at least 10 years and before that about every third duty I was in either Arlington or Alexandria, up in communist country,” Joe McCain, a Navy veteran, said at an event in Loudoun County.

Joe McCain then apologized, but the remark drew laughter at the event, according to the report.

“This was Joe McCain’s unsuccessful attempt at humor,” said McCain campaign spokeswoman Gail Gitcho. “John McCain and Sarah Palin are committed to winning the support of voters in Northern Virginia and understand the region’s importance to victory statewide.”