Democrats, some independents and some of the news media aren’t the only ones who have some questions about whether in the long term GOP Vice Presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin will help the McCain-Palin ticket. One person voicing doubts is Republican strategist Mark Murphy, who gives the quote of the day:
“I think she’ll ultimately be a polarizer. After last night’s smash [Palin’s speech], 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.”
On the other hand, it may be time to simply conclude that many Americans, despite all the lofty between-election talk, truly enjoy polarizing politics due to the adrenalin rush. McCain gains with Palin because he has finally shored up his base. All some voters wanted were signs that she could deliver a good speech and go after the Democrats and she exceeded those expectations. The tendency to immediately defend someone on your sports team was never more evident in the reaction to defend Palin’s experience, blast Obama’s again — and in the fierce reaction media and tabloid coverage. US magazine is losing thousands of subscribers — in some cases before the magazine came out.
The question is how well she’ll wear (most likely well) and whether the McCain can get away with what no major candidate has ever attempted — staying totally away from press interviews. Most likely: yes. She’ll just be interviewed on Fox or on Sean Hannity’s Show and the mainstream media will use excerpts from that. Debate questions? She’ll be prepped. This means she’ll be allowed to play by a different set of rules than McCain, Obama or Biden.
But just as in polling, it’s not one poll that matters but the trend, what matters in American political debate is the character of the debate. And 2008 is now shaping up as yet one more polarizing election where divide and rule, sarcasm and mockery will likely reach new heights. The goal will be: get out your base (priority) and ignore the others (don’t worry about tailoring your campaign to them) to win. Do independent voters truly want something different or is this the real way to reach them, too? It has worked before and if nothing else Palin will keep the GOP base firmly and happily in line.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.