Re: NBC: Why the left is scared to death of McCain's running mate.; by by William Kristol

On Aug 30, 1:02�pm, SMBalloon <smball...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
I'm curious as to what people think of Kristol's analysis. �

The Weekly Standard
Let Palin Be Palin
Why the left is scared to death of McCain's running mate.
by William Kristol
09/08/2008, Volume 013, Issue 48

A spectre is haunting the liberal elites of New York and
Washington--the spectre of a young, attractive, unapologetic
conservatism, rising out of the American countryside, free of the
taint (fair or unfair) of the Bush administration and the recent
Republican Congress, able to invigorate a McCain administration and to
govern beyond it.

That spectre has a name--Sarah Palin, the 44-year-old governor of
Alaska chosen by John McCain on Friday to be his running mate. There
she is: a working woman who's a proud wife and mother; a
traditionalist in important matters who's broken through all kinds of
barriers; a reformer who's a Republican; a challenger of a corrupt
good-old-boy establishment who's a conservative; a successful woman
whose life is unapologetically grounded in religious belief; a lady
who's a leader.

So what we will see in the next days and weeks--what we have already
seen in the hours after her nomination--is an effort by all the powers
of the old liberalism, both in the Democratic party and the mainstream
media, to exorcise this spectre. They will ridicule her and patronize
her. They will distort her words and caricature her biography. They
will appeal, sometimes explicitly, to anti-small town and
anti-religious prejudice. All of this will be in the cause of trying
to prevent the American people from arriving at their own judgment of
Sarah Palin.

That's why Palin's spectacular performance in her introduction in
Dayton was so important. Her remarks were cogent and compelling. Her
presentation of herself was shrewd and savvy. I heard from many who
watched Palin--many of them not predisposed to support her--about how
moved they were by her remarks, her composure, and her story. She will
have a chance to shine again Wednesday night at the Republican
convention.

But before and after that, she'll be swimming in political waters
infested with sharks. Her nickname when she was the starting point
guard on an Alaska high school championship basketball team was "Sarah
Barracuda." I suspect she'll take care of herself better than many
expect.

But the McCain campaign can help. The choice of Palin was McCain's
own. Many of his staff expected, and favored, other more conventional
candidates. The campaign may be tempted to overreact when one rash
sentence or foolish comment by Palin from 10 or 15 years ago is
dragged up by Democratic opposition research and magnified by a
credulous and complicit media.

The McCain campaign will have to keep its cool. It will have to
provide facts and context, and to hit back where appropriate. But it
cannot become obsessed with playing defense. It should allow Palin to
deal with the charges directly and resist the temptation to try to
shield her from the media. Palin is potentially a huge asset to
McCain. He took the gamble--wisely, we think--of putting her on the
ticket. McCain's choice of Palin was McCain being McCain. Now his
campaign will have to let Palin be Palin.

There will be rocky moments. But they will fade if the McCain campaign
lets Palin's journey take its natural course over the next two months.
Millions of Americans--mostly but not only women, mostly but not only
Republicans and conservatives--seemed to get a sense of energy and
enjoyment and pride, not just from her nomination, but especially from
her smashing opening performance. Palin will be a compelling and
mold-breaking example for lots of Americans who are told every day
that to be even a bit conservative or Christian or old-fashioned is
bad form. In this respect, Palin can become an inspirational figure
and powerful symbol. The left senses this, which is why they want to
discredit her quickly.

A key moment for Palin will be the vice presidential debate, to be
held at Washington University in St. Louis on October 2. One liberal
commentator--a former U.S. ambassador and not normally an unabashed
vulgarian--licked his chops Friday afternoon: "To steal an old adage
of former Secretary of State James Baker .??.??. putting Sarah Palin
into a debate with Joe Biden is going to be like throwing Howdy Doody
into a knife fight!"

Charming. And if Palin holds her own against Biden, as she is fully
capable of doing? McCain will then have succeeded in combining with
his own huge advantage in experience and judgment, a politician of
great promise in his vice presidential slot who will make Joe Biden
look like a tiresome relic. McCain's willingness to take a chance on
Palin could turn what looked, after Obama's impressive speech Thursday
night in Denver, like a long two months for Republicans and
conservatives, into a campaign of excitement and--dare we say
it?--hope, which will culminate on November 4 in victory.

(end of commentary)

He's doing what people usually do now. Tell us how the other side is
going to "attack" and "deamonize" someone thus trying to deflate the
impact. His whole arguement of why people won't/don't support her is
off. His paragraph:

"That spectre has a name--Sarah Palin, the 44-year-old governor of
Alaska chosen by John McCain on Friday to be his running mate. There
she is: a working woman who's a proud wife and mother; a
traditionalist in important matters who's broken through all kinds of
barriers; a reformer who's a Republican; a challenger of a corrupt
good-old-boy establishment who's a conservative; a successful woman
whose life is unapologetically grounded in religious belief; a lady
who's a leader."

This show exactly what he wants people to think why they think she's a
wingnut, but that's not the reason. He's trying to control the debate,
much like others with the experience issue. The reasons by her own
words and views have already been layed out why liberals and Democrats
think she's a far right wing nutjob. It has nothing to do with being a
woman, but that's what they want you to think. It has nothing to do
with being a proud wife or mother, but that's what he wants you to
think. It has nothing to do with being a challenger of a currupt good-
old boy establishment, but that's what he wants you to think..
.

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