OpEdNews » Palin's Dominance Dooms McCain

McCain is much like Professor Rath in "The Blue Angel." He's infatuated with someone much younger and he has joined the carnival just to be near her. The Palin act travels from one town to the next attracting crowds of Bush-Cheney dead enders. She steps forward, with the confidence of a high school cheerleader while the full professor of perverse politics looks on with admiration and affection.

At the start of his campaign, he was unable to draw a crowd or deliver a speech that just about anyone found the least bit engaging. In early side by side coverage of a same day event, CNN showed Obama hitting one out of the park and McCain struggling to engage 200 onlookers.

The net effect of the Palin addition is in dispute. If you're part of the Republican media shill brigade, it's been terrific, a brilliant choice. Looking at it objectively, there's been little impact on the ticket, unless you buy into the Gallup Poll that showed what looked like a McCain convention bounce. To "stand up" the bounce, Gallup simply added more Republicans to their sample, driving up McCain's numbers. But if you're candidate John McCain, you're locked and loaded, exhilarated, and infused vicariously by your vision of Palin's draw.

Palin's job is to add luster to McCain but sometimes the candidate is just
who he is - tired and weary. Image (left) cc Image (right) cc

McCain was a man of special privilege. Despite his mild admonition for participating in the last financial meltdown due to his acceptance of gifts from savings and loan failure Charles Keating, McCain has been a press darling. He's provided good box office for sound bites on a variety of issues. For a short time, he went against the grain of right wing madness. In his Norfolk, Virginia speech announcing his 2000 candidacy for president, he took on the worst elements of U.S. politics.

McCain also pulled off one of the great pieces of modern street theater, also in the 2000 primaries. He stood before the Russian embassy and castigated the New York Republican Party for taking his name off the primary ballot on a technicality. He was quickly restored to the ballot.

But time and the nonstop coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign began to wear on his patience. The press had actually criticized him, very lightly and not too often. He was not pleased.

Then he got Palin. Despite the array of initial criticism and the ongoing attacks on her character and political deviance, she's shown that she can draw a crowd. McCain was infatuated. He followed her just about everywhere and continues to do so.

To a crowd of 7,000 people in Lancaster, PA, McCain said, ""With the help of this running mate, this stalwart and great American, we will always put our country first." Sept. 9, 2008

The reality is another story. For the first time in nearly eight years, a cross section of the corporate media has opened up on the right wing establishment. The Post, a long time stenography pool for the Bush administration, ran a serious front page story on embarrassing family details. The New York Times editorialized along with the St. Petersburg Times. Now ABC's Brian Ross and his Blotter investigative team are on the case.

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http://electionfraudnews.com

Michael Collins is a writer who focuses on clean elections and voting rights. See this summary of his articles plus Election 2004: The Urban Legend and groundbreaking research and commentary in "" His web site, Election Fraud News & The Money Party, offers a collection of resources and commentary on critical issues facing the country.

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8 comments

A liberal American, PhD mathematician, bipedal Earthling.
W. Christopher Epler (Bill)A liberal American, PhD mathematician, bipedal Earthling.

Palin on the outside;alter ego of Ann Coulter on the inside

I totally, totally agree. The pizzaz about her "appearance" is already waning and McCain has become her geezer lapdog. Please note that in effect Palin has BECOME the Repuglican Party. Do you think the hard core elite pugs actually like this? God no, because they know it's a thousand times easier to bring one person down than an entire party. And can we bring her down? It really shouldn't be hard. In fact it's already started. Not just her sleaze family but her poisenous voting record against animals, children, women, and the environment. This woman isn't just an airhead, she's an EVIL airhead. I think the best way to think of her is that she may be Sarah Palin "on the outside", but she's the alter ego of Ann Coulter "on the inside" -- and that is a positive horror.

by W. Christopher Epler (Bill) (262 articles, 53 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 643 comments) on Sunday, September 14, 2008 at 11:13:01 PM

Michael Collins is a writer who focuses on clean elections and voting rights. See this summary of his articles plus Election 2004: The Urban Legend and groundbreaking research and commentary in "" His web site, Election Fraud News & The Money Party, offers a collection of resources and commentary on critical issues facing the country.
Michael CollinsMichael Collins is a writer who focuses on clean elections and voting rights. See this summary of his articles plus Election 2004: The Urban Legend and groundbreaking research and commentary in "" His web site, Election Fraud News & The Money Party, offers a collection of resources and commentary on critical issues facing the country.

Bill, you're right

It is easier to take down one person than an entire party. They were too clever by half in selecting Palin. The press is actually arising from the air condition comfort of their offices and going forth to do their job, well a segment of the press but enough. She has so many problems and exposures. This Wolf business is so basic and so simple. She proposed a bounty for severed wolf legs. That's utterly disgusting. I guess the geniuses who picked her have never heard of Michael Vick, who can't get a cup of coffee in Virginia for offenses in the same ball park. We'll know which elements of corporate media have turned if and when we see that Defenders of Wildlife ad on the network news. It's the equivalent of the 'daisy ad' in 1964. Just to talk about it means it's over for the subject of the ad. Let's hope. The alternative is too frightening to consider.

by Michael Collins (112 articles, 17 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 401 comments) on Sunday, September 14, 2008 at 11:26:13 PM

Conservative prolife anti-death penalty tree hugger. Believe that less government is good government, government cannot solve anyone's personal problems, the government taking money from one group of people and giving it to another group of people is a crime, and that people should take responsibility for their own lives.
Mad JayhawkConservative prolife anti-death penalty tree hugger. Believe that less government is good government, government cannot solve anyone's personal problems, the government taking money from one group of people and giving it to another group of people is a crime, and that people should take responsibility for their own lives.

Questions

":McCain also pulled off one of the great pieces of modern street theater, also in the 2000 primaries. He stood before the Russian embassy and castigated the New York Republican Party for taking his name off the primary ballot on a technicality. He was quickly restored to the ballot."

Maybe Senator Obama's opponents in his Illinois senate race should have done the same thing after the Senator got 4 of them removed from the ballot on technicalities. He won the race easily for some reason. Is this a good example of the kind of ethical conduct we can expect out of a President Obama?

Shooting wolves from planes. Do you know anything about the predator control program that allows aerial hunting of wolves by a limited number of hunters in a limited area in Alaska? It is a lie that Gov Palin personally shot wolves from a plane. If that is true, provide a link please. Here are some facts and instead of some highly emotional hit job on Palin without one fact about the subject in your hand doing some reading first before passing on lies.

When I first hear about hunting wolves from planes when I was in Alaska recently I was appalled but an Alaskan resident explained it to me and I changed my view on the matter. Wolf populations in some areas in Alaska are out of control for some reason and the wolves are decimating the populations of moose and caribou. They are killing almost every moose or caribou calf. This is not healthy for the prey or the wolves in that particular area. There needs to be a balance. The hunting I understand will stop when the wolf populations are back to a normal level. I do not like aerial hunting on one level but understand that it needs to be done.

by Mad Jayhawk (2 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 466 comments) on Monday, September 15, 2008 at 1:17:32 AM

Here's some accuracy for you "Mad Jayhawk"

Your first piece of evidence is a link to Palin's press release site on the web. That site has been scrubbed and it's just a press release. Is that how you evaluate candidates and public policy?

Then you say, "I was appalled but an Alaskan resident explained it to me and I changed my view on the matter."An Alaskan resident. Well, I'll go find one tomorrow and, when they counter your resident, then you'll concede my point?

Here are some facts reported in the Anchorage Daily News
(a bunch of Alaskan residents who sort out the facts) 3/27/2007

http://tinyurl.com/6s42tp

"Palin prefers cash incentives because they are less expensive than renting helicopters and they help families where the wolf killing occurs,: Leighow said.
In addition to paying cash, the department plans to:
Permit more people to kill wolves by contacting those who have applied but never won a permit.
Charter flights so state biologists can spot wolves from the air, then share the information with permitted volunteers.
Snip
The state will use the left forelegs of wolves as biological specimens, which can help biologists determine wolf age and will assist the program in the future, Lloyd said.
"The state has paid for wolf remains to use as biological specimens as recently as 2002 for wolves collected in the McGrath area," Lloyd said.

by Michael Collins (112 articles, 17 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 401 comments) on Monday, September 15, 2008 at 1:54:32 AM

New England native-moved to Florida and thence to Virginia and finally Minnesota. Former Constitutional analyst and radio talk show host. Former Founder and Director of People For Sovereignty and Restoration-legislative analyst. I am non party and was on the periphery of politics for over forty years-was drawn back into things after this primary season because , well, who wouldn't be. Worked with Jim and Ken Collier on voting issues in Florida-worked for paper ballots. Worked with Marlon Brando ...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Raffie AzarielNew England native-moved to Florida and thence to Virginia and finally Minnesota. Former Constitutional analyst and radio talk show host. Former Founder and Director of People For Sovereignty and Restoration-legislative analyst. I am non party and was on the periphery of politics for over forty years-was drawn back into things after this primary season because , well, who wouldn't be. Worked with Jim and Ken Collier on voting issues in Florida-worked for paper ballots. Worked with Marlon Brando ...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Good Article

Michael,

Congratulations on an exceptional and insightful article. Everyone needs to read this-written from a logical and sane perspective.

I am greatly amused by Stephen Colbert's "Make McCain Interesting" campaign. It's hilarious! If you aren't familiar with it-Stephen (whom I adore) asks the public to fill in the green screen McCain spoke in front of some months ago in the hopes that whatever they do would attract attention to him. He exhibits so little life force-you have to wonder if he's really there.

Some of them are absolutely howlingly funny-spinning squirrels and spots from Star Wars and all manner of things and yet, still not a glimmer of life. He speaks in such a low monotone-sing song he is the perfect cure for my insomnia.

Palin is some kind of nightmarish kewpie doll someone took out of their attic. She's a throwback to the 50's I think. Eek! You expect to see her on "Father Knows Best" or something with her antiquated views and her dismissal of women's rights.

Then you put a weapon in her hand and she becomes Annie Oakley or some Yukon mama. The animal lovers (of which I am definitely one) will go after her tooth and claw for her environmental policies and the petitioning to overturn the polar bear as endangered. Add the incredible audacity with which she flaunts her "pipeline" connection to God and her religious stance and you have got something that hasn't been invented yet.

I don't see the attractiveness-it's buried under her whining and arrogance. You have to wonder what on earth this campaign is trying to do. The desperation of the GOP saddled with wallpaper paste McCain and over the top Palin is painful to watch. But, oh so satisfying all the same.

Thanks for making this so clear and concise.

by Raffie Azariel (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 39 comments) on Monday, September 15, 2008 at 1:54:36 AM

Thanks Raffie

"whining" - I've heard that again and again from the folks of varried political persuasions I've talked with about Ms. Palin.

I'm a major Colbert fan. I think that his speech at the Nation Press Club was the definining commentary on the Bush administration and the indifferent people who serve them. Due purely to scheduling, I've not seen Colbert in about three weeks so I'll check in and get 'green screen' literate;)

by Michael Collins (112 articles, 17 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 401 comments) on Monday, September 15, 2008 at 2:00:26 AM

Retired university professor.
francineRetired university professor.

Flavor of the month

Will Palin's personality, image and 1950s value resonates deeply and lastingly in the American psyche, or is it just a ''flavor of the month'' effect? There was a time, not so long ago, when it was Obama who was idolized as the new Messiah, put on a pedestal and seen as exciting and new; and now he is going thru the next phase, thrown down the pedestal and criticized for his passivity by the same people who worshipped him 3 months ago.

So the big question is: will the excitement generated by Palin fade away before November, 5 or not?

by francine (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 378 comments) on Monday, September 15, 2008 at 6:58:51 AM

Yes

I don't think it was ever there in reality. The Palin specific polls showed not much benefit, other than in the South and that wasn't meaningful. The Gallup Poll post convention had to flip the previous party preference assumptions for party so that Republicans outnumbered Democrats in that sample by about 8 points. That's the McCain bounce.

The fading is in the unreal world of media attention. She's a side show act, something people want to see but feel guilty about watching. That's over and it's just scandal after scandal in her garden of rotting plants.

She's being called a liar by some at the major networks, ABC for example. That's a problem for McCain. He's getting the same label. Remember that great movie, "Midnight Run," where the mobster called his flunkies "Moron #1" and "Moron #2." Well, Palin - McCain are "Liar #1" and "Liar #2."

I think that she'll have to go sometime in October. Watch for the some MSM stories on her crowds versus his, several of them. They when she goes, he's done for. If not, we're done for;)

by Michael Collins (112 articles, 17 quicklinks, 5 diaries, 401 comments) on Saturday, September 20, 2008 at 3:17:19 AM