Sound advice.  Palin is a frat-boy gimmick; a distraction.  And, because of her speech, she will remain that.  She has proven herself as funny and cutting as Don Rickles, but who is she?  She was supposed to sell herself last night - did she do it?  She was supposed to - as an unknown - make people comfortable with her, especially the independents.  Did she do that?  I doubt it.

This election is about four more years of Bush and McCain's judgement - and evidently and increasing erratic behaviour.  Palin? Whatever.

Leave Palin to Hillary, Boxer, Feinstein, Steinem, et al. While the boys in the base are now all girl crazy over this Frankenstein creation, half Phyllis Schlafly, half Phyllis George, the women of America will take a more sober look - and act.

www.latimes.com/.../la-oe-steinem4-2008sep04,0,1290251.story

Biden and Obama should stay on course, stay on the issues, stay on McCain.

I'm pretty sure the Dems have already picked up on this as the only comment we've really heard thus far from Obama and Biden is, "family is off limits" meaning non-issue related personal Palin talk won't be let in the game.

Is there anything more, personality wise, "American" than a war hero and hockey (soccer) mom couple? They're an ABCFamily sitcom for Christ's sake who might have delivered a real life Juno for the general public to fall in love with. But from the looks of things I think the ratings will peter out after their prime time pilot and the Dems know this.

Sorry for all the pop references, but this election is America's new favorite soap opera like never before.

I meant the "for Christ's sake" part literally of course.

I think it's pretty clear the Obama campaign is and has been following this game plan.  It's the media (justifiably) that is putting all of the focus on the "is Palin ready" question.  

Here, here.  One more time: "$10 billion per month in Iraq + massive Bush deficit = you are going to lose your job if you vote for McCain.  It's already at risk as it is."  Haven't the Democrats learned that this is how the GOP wins elections?  Make it about gay rights (2004), alpha dogs (2000), and willie horton (1992) -- anything but the major issues of the day.  Dan Quayle didn't keep GHWBush from wiping the floor with Dukakis.  

Best advice I had heard so far. I always thought the experience line was a mistake, especially considering how Obama had Kaine on his short list. My sense was that they should focus on her right wing views on everything from abortion to global warming (see www.sarahpalinisgeorgebush.com) But I have to admit this line seems a much better strategy. As Nietzsche said, it is not your lot to swat flies. Let's hope they listen.

I think it is legitimate to ask why the media gave Obama a free pass  for a year, rarely questioning his experience, but has jumped all over Palin.  Is she qualified?  Probably not any more than he is.  

As to Steinem, she is of the belief that only liberal women are qualified to represent women, a common problem in academia and among radical feminists.  They fail to acknowledge that throughout American history, conservative Christian Evangelical women have also played significant roles in advancing reform and women's rights.  There are too many examples to discuss here, but suffice it to say that Christian women in the abolitionist and temperance movements of the 19th century were crucial to advancing women's rights, demanding the vote, property laws, equal access to education, and equal pay for equal work, long before Gloria's generation came along.  Women's Christian Temperance Union president Frances Willard, among many others, were conservative women who intertwined Christianity and women's rights.  To deny them a place in politics, and to deny their role in advancing women's rights, is really ignoring the facts, and Steinem knows her history better than that.  She cannot just pick and choose what facts she wants to portray.

Actually, I've come around 180 on this, and decided that, instead of attacking Palin, or even (as Douthat suggests) ignoring her, the Democrats should be building her *up.*  This is something Biden has already begun, in fact, calling her a "skilled politician."  The more they do that, the more she becomes unexciting (a "skilled politiician" in the end is just another politician) and the more she is set up for her debate with Biden.  They do *not* want her to come into that debate with the benefit of low expectations.

Bingo. The attacks on Palin diminish Obama by highlighting the obvious, and disturbing, similarities between their attractive young identity politics / lifestory rookie candidate and our attractive young identity politics / lifestory rookie candidate. The inevitable reaction, as we see on these very boards, is for people to start comparing and debating which one is more (less?) qualified to be POTUS.

Not such a good idea when people already perceive your party's ticket to be upside down.

Even better: let Obama debate Palin-- from the VP slot. Right the ticket. Obama can run again in 2016. Maybe vs Palin.

One slight problem with this strategery: the blogblatherers and more rabid feminists didn't get the memo and won't stay on message even if they do. Case in point: Excitable Andrew's still nattering on about amniotic fluid and southern gothic horror stories.

Oh well, great idea anyway.

I think a good line would be "Obama wants to get beyond race -- Palin wants a race war!"

Ok, not seriously.  But with the frightening undertone of "who's this uppity negro anyhow" last night among the delegates . . .

teplukhin, you used to be sane. But batting for Sarah Palin?! Don't you see who she is? She's far right, she is abusive.

You know, I lived in a Communist countries and the politicians there were exactly like her - abusive, entitled to screw everybody but make favors for her own families -just as she does with her daughter, while she excoriates other teenage mothers-, not tolerating any dissent. The fucking Communists also railed against elites, who meant the same things as for the fucking Republicans - relatively poor academics. In fact, the fucking Communists WERE the party and scret police elite - just as Sarah Pailn and John McCain ARE the power and money elite.

Their Republican party has been for the past eight years in government where, as Republicans always do, left the US with a a huge deficit. But they still act as outsiders who rail against "Washington". Washington? That is the Republican government. Your fucking Sarah Palin wrestled with corruption? It ws REPUBLICAN  corruption,. And what she did bring instead? A regime in which she can fire anyone who her family doesn't like.

"Not such a good idea when people already perceive your party's ticket to be upside down."

Tep, you've officially become the Mickey Kaus of TNR.  Like the Mickster, you conflate YOUR beliefs to be those held by the majority and refuse to countenance any policy that doesn't align with your preferred outcome 100%.  While a Biden-Obama ticket may get 100% of the teplukhin2you household's vote, methinks this isn't quite enough to decide the election.

Listen, support whomever you want, it's your right.  But the constant braying about your topic du jour adds nothing to the conversation and has worn thin.

DON'T ATTACK PALIN! Who cares? She's the bulldog, with lipstick, fine. Let her bark. The attack needs to be continuously on McCain. Palin is important because it shows McCain is a gambler. He gambled on a political trick that would peel off HRC voters and shore up the base, but the withering fusillade she took in the last 4 days made McCain steer sharp Right, to the reliable base, and now he's SuperBush! Obama ought to continue the line that nothing he's seen in Palin or any of McCains decisions has shown he will change anything in Washington, sound like more of the same. But he, Obama, will not gamble on the American [insert issue here: economy, security, foreign policy, energy] while McCain will. That word Gambler ought to replace Maverick after another month. Added to more of the same 90% of the time and debate performances, and highlighting the even more Right wing position of the other ticket will bring this home for Obama. Remember, no matter WHO McCain picked, this was going to be the speech and the attack. So be it, nothing new here, lets move along.

I'm glad that everyone has come around to the advice that most of us commenting on tnr.com suggested last week Friday when McCain unveiled Gov. Palin. The Obama campaign has handled this very well -- when Palin attacks, just say it isn't accurate and then blast McCain. Palin will be irrelevant in about a week for all but the couple of days around the VP debate. Her positions will not be, and her positions are the same wrong ones as John McCain's.

dbhuff,

GOP rapid response to Obama ad attacking McCain the gambler will be sure to include Bill Clinton's 'rolling the dice' remarks to Charlie Rose.

Maybe that doesn't matter at this point, but it may partly explain why the Obama campaign hasn't jumped more vociferously on McCain's reckless gut-wagers.

Barack Obama, Joe Biden and John McCain will appear on Sunday talk shows , but not Sarah Palin. [via