One pithy way to sum up the McCain/Palin/Rove strategy in this campaign is SAY ANYTHING. (Sure -- 'lying' may be more pithy, but doesn't quite have the requisite complexity). SAY ANYTHING to win, and say enough ANYTHINGs and an opponent can't get out from under it, may never get on the offensive.
As Rove proved time and again, it works. And it works especially well when an Establishment-infatuated national media elite (excepting that noted antiestablishmentarian, William Kristol, chokesputter*cough*) forgets who it serves and what it serves (that quaint 'public interest' notion, remember that?).
There's some old saying about lying, along the lines of, "If you're going to lie, lie big and bold." GOP & Company has mastered the tactic and lives by it today: Iraq aided and abetted 9/11... Opposing the Bridge to Nowhere... Sound economic fundamentals... Teaching sex to kindergardeners... Obama the Muslim... etc ad infinitum...
But there's a downside and maybe it's beginning to show: SAY ANYTHING can be a tar baby, the tighter you hug it, the more it sticks to you. Now that the media seem disenchanted and is finding its spine, let's watch the masters of SAY ANYTHING try to toss this tar baby away.
UPDATE:"tar baby"