[Levin]

Originally Posted by TripletDaddy

I agree that Palin is getting her ovaries gladhandled by the media. But I think it goes back to my recent fireside chat with Tex re: McCain's disfunctional arms. If you tote something out as a positive, the other side will attack it as a negative. That is how politics are played.

Since day 1, Palin has been referring to herself as a hockey mom, she uses her baby as a prop when she gets off airplanes, she has been using this hokey "I'm one of you...an average Joe Six Pack" schitck. The strategy seems to be, in part, an appeal to voters using either a bit of subtle sexuality (for male voters) or common gender appeal (for women voters).

So if your job is to sink her campaign, what would you do? Well, that is the easy part...

Sex appeal: focus on her physical flaws
Joe Six Pack: focus on the fact that most Joe Six packs are idiots and should not be VP of the USA.
The Ovary Vote: attack her as a bad mom

What is the big shocker here?

Truthfully, I didnt even think she looked bad on the cover of that magazine, so I dont understand why people were offended by the lack of airbrushing.

The bottom line in all of this is that Palin has ultimately done more damage to her candidacy than anyone else. Her high point was her speech at the RNC...an uncontested scripted talk given in front of a home crowd that was desperate for something to get excited about. Since then, she has basically floundered to the point that if she simply doesnt screw up, it is viewed as a victory.

If McCain/Palin fails, it won't be because the media didnt airbrush her face. It will simply be because she was the wrong pick. McCain rolled the dice by picking her....looks like he came up craps. But still a gutsy move.

This post is a classic example of my point: you describe how to bring down Palin and say we shouldn't be surprised that these tactics are being followed. But your analysis ignores the fact that the media is the one doing it, which was my point. Obama has raised enough money to post his own unflattering pictures, and type his own skewed articles, about Palin. He doesn't need Newsweek, the NYT, or the Post to do it for him.

But keep congratulating the media for knowing just exactly how to bring Palin down.

The loss of professionalism among the media is a travesty. It started with cable news and is spreading to print. We will all be the worse off. We already are.