Look, I'm as guilty as anyone, hell, MORE guilty than anyone, of pushing this Sarah Palin thing to the extreme. Like most of you, I despise the Republicans and what they've done to this country. And I don't want to just "win" in November, I want to rub their faces in it. But I've honestly come to believe that the unreasonable response to Palin has become counterproductive. Follow me here.
If I remember correctly (and I probably don't), a week or so prior to the convention we were making fun of the "McCain Daily Gaffe", or something similar. There were a number of issues that McCain totally misspoke on, and then came THE BOMB of "I don't know how many houses I have." It was a thorough bashing...and we rolled around in it like a pig in mud. And it was WORKING, because when the focus was on McCain, he showed his age, his mental prowess, his command of the issues - and frankly it was unflattering. He looked dazed, and unorganized and unsteady.
If you haven't noticed that's no longer the case. We're so focused on Palin right now, that the focus on McCain no longer requires him to generate the first thought. He only has to pretend to be indignant about how "poor Sarah" is being treated. He is required to produce absolutely nothing in the way of content knowledge...only respond to those ideas that have alrady been proposed. He's gone from being active - where he doesn't perform well - to being solely reactive, where he thrives. As long as he can parrot, he performs well in front of a crowd. As soon as he comes off the cuff, the train derails. We had him derailed for a bit, but I don't think that's the case now.
I believe our focus on Palin was correct early on, but I no longer think it is. Much more of us salivating over the kill and I believe the tide will have turned not necessarily to McCain's favor...but to that which he is much more comfortable with, which is playing the victim.
And it's a long time until November for America to have to watch John "I was a POW" McCain play the martyr. Really, we ought to give it rest.