Karl Rove and John McCain have set us up for a trap. They WANT Democrats to attack Palin's intellect. To do so makes us look sexist, like a bunch of jackasses that sit around the country club and tell blond jokes (in other words, exactly how Rush and his buds behave in private). We have to tread carefully here.
Obama's magnificent speech is winning older and more cautious voters over to our side. The spectacle, the crowd, and the words were very inspiring. Now we should heed the advice of our candidate, the candidate of hope and change. He's right. This election is about us. We need to avoid the politics of the past. Questioning Palin's character or intellect is a no win situation that could backfire, especially if she exceeds our low expectations in her debate with Biden (remember how Shrub kept doing this with Kerry).
A lot of people admire Palin, especially women. She has a high approval rating. She has stood up against corruption inside her own party. She defeated an incumbent governor. This takes more than being a former beauty pageant runner-up. This takes more than luck. She is, I believe, a very astute politician, just like Hillary. Hillary was grossly underestimated when she ran for her first term as Senator in New York. Let's not make that same mistake with Palin.
Attack her experience! Attack her on the issues! Make her defend her retro stances in the modern, progressive world. Make women aware that she is radically pro-life and wants to teach creationism in schools. Against Obama, she definitely looks and feels like the past. Her ideas are straight from 1982, the same old tired far right talking points. Actually, I thought the far right abandoned some of these years ago.
The wisecracks and comments about her being the new Ishtar, the new new coke, the new Paris Hilton, the new Ms. South Carolina, they are all very cute, but they can make us look mean-spirited (especially given Obama's uplifting speech) and backfire mightily. Palin and the Republicans are hoping we underestimate her and hoping we say all the wrong things about a conservative female executive. Then they will beat us over the head with it mercilessly until they convince enough female voters that we never gave Hillary a fair shake.
We all know that they're the hypocrites, that they wouldn't make this choice if they weren't desperate (or if she was a he, say named Tim Pewlenty). But we, not they, will be seen as the hypocrites if we judge too fast and attack too harshly based on the look of this book's cover. And it is a hot cover, though in a really weird bad porn way.
I give this advice as a man who is married to a deceptively smart woman who regularly takes my money at poker. Let's be smart in our attacks, let's be fierce, let's not show all our cards, and let's call the Republican bluff. It also wouldn't hurt if don't look too eager to at least let her enjoy her moment in history (and future as obscure political trivia). If only for a day or two.