In today's Atlantic, political editor Marc Ambinder suggests some new strategy to retrieve the Democrat's sinking fortunes.Forget about bashing minority leader John Boehner - play the Palin card:
Tying the mainstream GOP to the Tea Party is a topic under discussion in the White House. But how? Trying to make John Boehner a foil for the election, or even Jim DeMint, or even Glenn Beck, is like spending half of the amount you've budgeted for a nice wool suit. Instead of Dolce and Gabbana, you wear Kenneth Cole.
There is, in fact, a much better avatar of the Tea Party movement, someone whose very name provokes disgust among Democrats, someone whose name identification is 100 percent and whose ubiquity is extremely useful.
That person is Sarah Palin. All that's required is for the President to utter her name a couple of times.
Looks like Journolist member Ambinder participated in one of those early morning White House briefings of the Vast Left Wing conspiracy, because White House spokeshole Robert Gibbs is already laying the ground to make Sarah Palin the new target, calling her 'the most formidable voice of the Republican Party'.
The Hill plays it up as 'rare praise'. Horse manure. What Gibbs is really saying is 'that Right Wing tea Party wacko Sarah Palin is the Republican party. Booga booga booga!!'
And the rest of Obama's media shills are chiming right in about how Sarah Palin is 'the most prominent Republican' and 'a formidable presence'. Even Mr. Bill took a solo in the new cover version of 'A vote for the GOP is a vote for Palin.'
Well, I'll give the Obama Administration and their pals on the Left this - attempting to demonize Sarah Palin one more time is certainly easier than actually trying to run on their policies and record.
But while it may play in leftist strongholds like Manhattan or Georgetown, for most of the rest of the country it will be seen as a desperate attempt to milk a little more airplay out of the same old song - sorta like the 'Everything is Bush's fault' meme.
And it's an open question whether it will work as well as it used to.At this point, if Sarah Palin borrowed five bucks from a staffer four years ago or forgot to pay a parking ticket back in 1990, it's already been a front page headline in the NYT. There's no new material left!
And have you noticed something? No matter how vicious the personal attacks on her get, Governor Palin keep smiling, reiterating her message and coming back for more. And the more she's attacked, the bigger and more popular she gets. Hopefully, the Left will continue to disparage and underestimate the Arctic Fox.
And ironically, the numbers look like playing the Palin card the seems to have had a positive effect forher. As a matter of fact, according to Rasmussen's latest survey, likely voters say that they share Governor Palin's views versus Obama's by a whopping 52-40%. And while all likely voters are pretty evenly split in their approval ratings of Sarah Palin, sift out the Democrats and 76% of Republicans and 52% of independents now hold a favorable opinion of her. And those are her numbers after an amazingly concerted media campaign demonizing her.
If Obama plans on running in 2012 (and I frankly think he very well might end up not doing so) perhaps the last thing he ought to do is make this a personal referendum on Sarah Palin. It could come back to haunt him.
3 comments:
Why not? They have been bashing her since Omamba ran against her in 2008.
And she will get them lots more air time that Boehner s\will.
That wasn't an obscure pun. It was a standard Sheldon typo.....
And she will get them lots more air time that Boehner will.
As often happens, Ambinder lets his Andy Sullivan nutjob Mr. Hyde out of the closet. Thinking things through isn't Marc's strongest suit. Independents aren't as put off by Palin as they are by this POTUS's thrashing around trying to find an "angle" or gimmick to get his approval ratings above 40%. Most Dems whose seats are in jeopardy are now telling him to stay away or even supporting a FULL extension of the Bush tax cuts. Pelosi's attempts to call class warfare on the wealthiest 3%. many of whom are small businessmen who think the latest $30 billion in credit is just another Dem con-job attempt, are rejected now by 31 Dems who are going to get squashed November 2nd. Another ten Dems going over to a full extension would mean Pelosi would lose in her own House.
While Ambinder's fantasizing about non-existent Tea Party social issues types, this White House is spinning its wheels just trying to keep its own troops from defecting. Yeah, like in Winter of '44, attack the Yanks in the West, and the Soviets won't invade Berlin.....!
The independents have come to the judgment that Palin isn't as ca-raaaazy as the Pelosi House and it's insane "we have to pass the law to see what it contains...." And Reid's "The war is lost [just as the surge is beginning to work]."
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