Like most of us, I cringe when i hear the voice of this brainless version of an "attack dog." Sarah Palin is much more than a mere attack dog.
Palin is a conglomeration of Richard Nixon, the late Sen. Joseph McCarty, George Bush and Dick Cheney.
Even worse, she is carrying McCain's "dirty water" by appearing as a lowly "hockey mom" who represents "Joe Six-Pack" and the "common people."
In my view, Palin cannot be underestimated. Whenever this witch opens her mouth," both MSM and cable open their programs with her big lie.
To date, the strategy seems to simply argue that the McCain camp is simply trying to divert attention away from the economy and even have their campaign manager's words to that effect.
Now, the Obama campaign has chosen to bring up Keating. I say fantastic--if McCain has chosen to play the game this way--then he has chosen to open the door to Keating, his wife's fraud on a non-profit organization to obtain illegal prescription drugs, the Washington Post article posted today how to abandoned his first wife and children for purely political purposes to propose to Cindy while he was still married.
And now--Palin
It seems the convention wisdom is to not allow a person to divert the public's attention to key electoral issues by allowing an opponent to steal them by repeating caustic and unfair issues which have nothing to do with key and important issues with the smear job of swift boating.
To date, the campaign has basically allowed troopergate and other issues involving Palin to be carried by the media and allowing itself to be above these tactics.
My argument: bullshit.
We must recognize that Palin no longer be treated as a traditional attack dog. She opens her mouth and smears Obama--and the attack goes largely unchallenged except with a tagline at the end of her smear with the proviso that such allegations appear to be untrue.
Sarah Palin has engaged in fraud and abuse of office in her capacity as Governor.
She did so also while she was Mayor--when she lobbied her own zoning commission to allow a zoning ordinance to property she owned and was selling. The market value dropped without the variance. Whie mayor, she personally got involved in city matters to line her pocketbook.
Of course--like Richard Nixon--she is stonewalling a legislative inquiry into her and her husband's alleged fraud and abuse of office.
Like the infamous late Sen. Joseph McCarty, she is engaged in the timeworn and dangerous attack: repeat a lie--make it as big as possible--and repeat the lie over and over until it sinks into the public mind much like a marketing agent repeats his mantra over and over until a gingle seems to become commonplace.
I believe that BOTH McCain and Palin should be the target of the Democratic counter-attack. If the attack does not come straight from BO, it needs to be repeated until both the MSM and cable TV carries her dirty laundry until her own seeps into the public mind.
BO should continue to repeat his economic message and remain above the fray.
Surrogates should deflect the Palin-McCain smear and then remind the public of Keating and the Palin fraud and abuse of office while we await the word from the Alaska Supreme Court decision this week.
This is controversial, I know. Many here may believe that we are simply falling for a McCain strategy of diverting the media's attention to the economy.
I believed this, too at first.
But after seeing this "attack dog" and the undue coverage of these attacks, I am now convinced: time to put our own boots on the ground with a twofold strategy.
Remind the public of the economy.
Remind the public of our opponents: a man who deserted his wife and children and blocked an FBI investigation into his current wife and a woman whose own fraud represents a candidate whose ignorance and elbows led to a bipartisan inquiry of the Alaska Legislature of her alleged fraud and abuse of office--an inquiry stonewalled by her Nixonian tactics and whose attacks on one on Obama is right from the McCarthy playbook.
We need to learn from Dukakis and Kerry--smear tactics by an opponent works.
We must not underestimate the Palin tactic--she should be treated much like we now confront McCain.
Time to tell the American people who may up to now be uninformed about the history of both McCain and Palin. The target would not be the more informed voter, but the independent voter now making up their mind and who may now just be weighting the credibility of both campaigns.