I actually do agree with Quin that many conservatives are like
homers in sports who just root, root, root for the red team and if
they don't win it's a shame -- the biggest downside of the Reagan
legacy is that he got conservatives into the habit of worshipping
Republican politicians, very few of whom are Reagans. That said,
even if the post-debate polls favor Biden, favorable reactions to
Palin's performance last night could be found far outside the
conservative echo chamber. There are theatric, emotional, and
psychological components to politics, and on that level Palin did
very well, in addition to exceeding (very low) expectations on
substance.
This morning, I was on the radio with a Democratic consultant
who emphatically agreed that Palin did very well last night. But he
also argued that Palin did more to help herself, by rehabilitating
her own national profile, than she did to help McCain. I'm not
entirely convinced -- Palin fires up the base more than McCain ever
will, which obviously helps the ticket as a whole, and a Palin flop
would have certainly dragged the ticket down. Palin's
liberal-baiting with a wink and a smile is a service McCain can't
really perform himself. But I'm struck by how much of the Palin
talk has focused on her specifically, while even Biden has managed
to recede (no pun intended) into the background of the Obama-Biden
ticket. Let Sarah help Sarah?
topics:
Sports
