I just caught this while watching Hannity and Colmes discuss Sarah Palin with Christine Pelosi. Hannity asks Pelosi if she thinks it would be a step forward for women if Palin is elected VP. Pelosi answers the question, then Hannity repeats his question, but this time, he asks if woman would be taking a step forward if she became President Palin.
Check out the video, starting from around the 2:00 minute mark. The statement comes around the 2:30 mark.
Hannity and Christine Pelosi discussing Palin
More below.
I was immediately struck when Hannity said that. Pelosi caught it too, and was sure to correct Hannity on his misstatement. Hannity admitted to the mistake and quietly apologized.
What to make of it? On the one hand, it seems like just a slip of the tongue. Honest mistake, no big deal.
But, when I think about it, I think it reveals the mindset of the wingnuts who are fervently behind Palin. To wingnuts like Hannity, this election is not about McCain. They could care less about him, they never liked him anyway. But, they are on the McCain bandwagon because he's the tool to getting the real Bush III in the White House - and that would be Palin. In fact, she's someone who will out-Bush Bush if she became president.
When people argue that this election should focus on McCain, I agree in part, but disagree. I think people need to understand the implications of McCain winning. There's a chance that he won't make it through the first term. But, I think even if he does make it, I think it's virtually guaranteed that he would only serve one term and let Palin run as the republican nominee in 2012. So, people who may be happy with maverick McCain must understand that voting for him is also simultaneously supporting Palin for president in 2012.
Yes, focus on McCain, but also make people think a bit more long term, and understand the full implications of what it would mean to vote for him. Palin is much more like Bush than McCain, and to argue that voting for that ticket would mean bringing back Bush back in the guise of a hockey mom in 4 years is a way of tying McCain to Bush. Basically, by saying he's sold his soul to the neocons to become president and get the full support of the republican base, in exchange for agreeing to basically "mentor" the next annointed neocon puppet president for four years and then declining to run for a second term.