WELCOME TO THE PALINDROME

[defrog]

[Photo via Wonkette]

As you may have heard, America is totally obsessed with the Governor of Alaska (yet another sentence no one has ever had to type before). And while everyone argues and swears and rants and raves and dithers and whatnot over whether she’s the new Tom Eagleton (doubtful), and whether Hillary fans are really that gullible or shallow (some might be, most aren’t), and whether or not her daughter is fair game for the media (don’t get me started), the question that intrigues me the most is:

Seriously now, what was McCain REALLY thinking?

I mean, just for a moment, forget all the talk about trying to woo Hillary fans and competing with Obama’s non-trad hotness. That’s a given. But that can’t be all there is to it. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, the GOP didn’t get where they are by picking names out of a hat at the last minute. So what specifically is Palin really bringing to the table that would appeal to the GOP’s sensibilities?

I think Politico may have have cracked the code.



The basic thesis is this: ever since the race narrowed down to McCain vs Obama and Hillary, the election topics have gelled around the economy, Iraq, gas prices and possibly healthcare. Now that Palin’s hit the scene, says Politico, suddenly everyone’s arguing over abortion, gay marriage and Creationism. Sure, those issues never really went away, but now they’re center-stage.

Any of this sound familiar?

I can’t say for sure that McCain and his people actively planned all this. On the other hand, it’s a Karl Rove classic, and Republicans tend to be in their element when they’re shouting about culture wars and wedge issues. It would also explain why they’re thrilled about Palin’s little after-school special episode. I’m sure they’re also thrilled that people at Daily Kos are frothing at the mouth and falling over each other to shake fingers at the Briscoe Bristol Palin story just to score a meaningless “See? They’re hypocrites about family values!” point.

“Let ‘em froth,” says Rove via conference call from an undersea bunker off the coast of Paraguay. “If they’re bagging on Sarah for not having a perfect Christian family, they’re not calling attention to the war or the economy. Half the country says they support conservative morals – that’s what you run on.”

Comic exaggeration? Maybe. And who knows if it will work? But it would explain an awful lot.

Still, it hasn’t even been a week since she was announced, so maybe once the shock wears off we’ll be back to real issues.

Ha ha. Just kidding.

Stop making sense,

This is dF

EDITED TO ADD [ten minutes later]: Correction on the name of Palin's daughter – which just goes to show how interested I am in that little soap opera.