No, this isn't some Rove is a political genius conspiracy diary, but one more to a potential trap that has been laid by our gluttonous media and ourselves.
Within a day of the Palin pick, every news source (even Fox) has been going on about her daughter's pregnancy, her role in various firings, and the lack of vetting supposedly done by the McCain campaign. This of course sets a very large "trap" with her speech tonight, as their are now only two outcomes on the table:
- She tanks/is mediocre, which then justifies the media feeding frenzy and effectively ends McCain's run, however
- She hits a home run (in the eyes of the pundits/public), in which case she could very well re-energize McCain's campaign and really close the Obama lead.
I, of course, fear outcome two, as a low bar set is an easy one to overcome. What has happened with the constant focus on lack of vetting and what truly are minor scandals (for most national politicians) is that Sarah Palin has been given the role of the underdog and a chance at redemption in prime time television tonight. This outcome could have been completely avoided had everyone not immediately jumped on her from day one. I never saw our gain in getting all of this information out (which I am certain the McCain camp knew, they aren't idiots after all) in such a rapid fashion, as the timing of the pick really allowed for this information to come out after her acceptance speech when it would have been most damaging. This isn't as much of a concern diary (as I doubt she will have a great speech), but just a note to the detriments of a feeding frenzy when the target is already scheduled to have a prime time chance to address those concerns/issues.