“She doesn’t seem to understand the implications of her own thoughts.”

Peggy Noonan

 

She does seem to understand her appeal. Republican speechwriter and political pundit David Frum coined the term. Palinized. He defines it as alienating and offending both independents and women who comprise the “great national middle” of American politics.

 

Without a doubt, the single most bizarre news over the weekend was the endorsement of Barack Obama by the Anchorage Daily News. The Anchorage Daily news is the paper of record in Sarah Palin’s hometown of Alaska. The apprehension of a couple of kooks who put together a half baked plot to slaughter 88 African Americans, behead another 14, and then assassinate Barack Obama was arguably even more bizarre, but it happened on Monday.

 

It must’ve been quite a blow for Sarah Palin to read in her state’s paper “Yet despite her formidable gifts, few who have worked closely with the governor would argue she is truly ready to assume command of the most important, powerful nation on earth. To step in and juggle the demands of an economic meltdown, two deadly wars and a deteriorating climate crisis would stretch the governor beyond her range.” Ouch! I suppose we can add them to the list of those “alienated and offended” by her selection.

 

She’s also managed to alienate and offend large swaths of the intelligentsia of the Republican Party. The number of republicans coming out against her since Colin Powell opened the floodgates last Sunday is truly breathtaking. People like defense policy expert Ken Adelman, who wrote in the Huffington Post that she wasn’t even qualified for a middle level position in the administration, let alone the Vice Presidency.

 

She’s alienated and offended members of the McCain campaign staff as well. Some of the unattributed comments coming from the highest echelons of the campaign are downright atrocious. I don’t know why McCain doesn’t put a stop to it. It’s got to be bad for morale.

 

In short, the Palinization of the McCain campaign consists of alienating and offending just about everybody except white men without a high school diploma. This is the group most besotted by the governor. What’s ironic is that it was republican pundits like Bill Kristol and Fred Barnes who lobbied the McCain campaign on Sarah Palin’s behalf.

 

Prompted by the interest expressed by these pundits, campaign manager Rick Davis sat through every single debate performance he could locate of the governor.  It didn’t concern him that she seemed “out of her depth” on most of the issues. What impressed him was how she “stuck to her pet issues – energy independence and ethics reform” refusing to talk about anything else.

 

During her Vice Presidential debate, she let people know up front that she had no intentions of answering the questions that were put to her. That was Rick Davis and Randy Sheunemann’s contribution.

 

Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker called attention to research showing that men have a tendency to forget their long term interest when a pretty woman happens by. Men and women were offered a small check today or a larger check at a later date. But first they had to look at pictures. The men were shown pictures of “average looking women” and “pretty women.” Women were shown pictures of men. After looking at pictures of “pretty women” men picked the smaller check. That is, a pretty woman made them forget about their long term interests. Women picked the larger check in both cases.

 

It isn’t yet clear what impact the Palinization of the McCain campaign will have on the results on November 4th. But she’s already had quite an impact on the McCain campaign and on the Republican Party. An impact that’s likely to last well beyond Election Day.

 

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