With the general consensus being Palin did okay, didn't melt like the Wicked Witch of the West, and fought Biden to a loss or tie, will the pundits spend the next few days taking seriously the statements Palin made that put her out on a limb from Republican orthodoxy or do you think they will just say, the story was whether she would meltdown and now that it's over, we don't care? Because there were some pretty big whoppers that came out of her mouth tonight, that, if taken seriously, would give the McCain people something to have to spin pretty wildly.
If the MSM decides to care about this debate beyond the horse race issues, or beyond the style points of Palin not reacting to Biden's emotional moment, they have a lot to chew on:
- Sarah Palin came out in support of civil unions. Clearly. I'm almost certain this is not on the Republican platform. The media could clearly question religious right figures and her "base" over this, and definitely press the McCain camp if indeed, they believe in this as policy.
- Sarah Palin stated that McCain supports Obama's bankruptcy provisions regarding judicial rewrites of mortgages. Her boss does not. Is this a change in the campaign's position. We weren't in a Philly bar playing "gotcha" on this one. What could be less a candidate's position than something said from a podium in front of the largest audience she will reach?
- Sarah Palin desires for the VP office to have the same powers or greater powers than those of Dick Cheney. Does John McCain wish her to have these powers? What would the balance of power be in a McCain administration.
It will be interesting to see if the media goes after these issues or just says, "well, the sideshow is over, we saw what we wanted and let's move on."
It is interesting to me that the McCain campaign puts out too very different messages. One is "She is qualified to be president." Another is, "Don't take her words seriously, they are just words and aren't meant to be analyzed as policy." These are mutually incompatible statements. If she is a qualified candidate, then she knows what she means when she says things. If she does not, she is not a qualified candidate. It will be interesting to see if the media pulls this thread or leaves it there, and if they do pull it, what new pretzels the McCain folks have to twist in to spin this.