PrintSeptember 11, 2008
Rove: Obama can't win against Palin
Why in heaven's name is Barack Obama going after Sarah Palin in the first place? Shouldn't he be targeting John McCain and George Bush instead?
Karl Rove thinks that Obama is making a huge tactical error in paying attention to Sarah Palin at all:
Karl Rove thinks that Obama is making a huge tactical error in paying attention to Sarah Palin at all:
It's a matchup he'll lose. If Mr. Obama wants to win, he needs to remember he's running against John McCain for president, not Mrs. Palin for vice president.Michael Dukakis spent the last months of the 1988 campaign calling his opponent's running mate, Dan Quayle, a risky choice and even ran a TV ad blasting Mr. Quayle. The Bush/Quayle ticket carried 40 states.Adlai Stevenson spent the fall of 1952 bashing Dwight Eisenhower's running mate, Richard Nixon, calling him "the kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree, and then mount the stump and make a speech for conservation." The Republican ticket carried 39 of 48 states.If Mr. Obama keeps attacking Mrs. Palin, he could suffer the fate of his Democratic predecessors. These assaults highlight his own tissue-thin résumé, waste precious time better spent reassuring voters he is up for the job, and diminish him -- not her.
Rove isn't the only analyst talking about this blunder. Many Democratic strategists are saying exactly the same thing and are worried that the Obama campaign has lost focus and is sliding into oblivion.
I don't think Obama is in that much trouble. Watch as the media tries to destroy Palin following her first interview with ABC News on friday night. Any little stumble she makes - and even if she doesn't make a gaffe, one will be invented - will receive headlines as big as the pregnancy of her daughter. The media is desperate to bring Obama back up and will no doubt oblige him with manufacturing a controversy over something Palin says.
As Palin continues to expose herself to the media, the Democrats and the press will seek to tear her down from her pedestal. When that happens, you will probably see a few Palin fans melt away and the race become very close once again.
Once her novelty wears off, the media sharks will begin to circle. No doubt she is tough enough to stand the gaff but there will be some damage. The key will be to prevent the media from trumpeting the meme that she is some kind of liability to the campaign. That is their ultimate goal and, barring some huge mistake by Palin, they probably will not succeed.
