Sarah Palin, A Drag Around John McCain's Neck

Headline in today's Washington Post: "McCain Tries to Push Past Palin Backlash"

Sarah Palin has clearly become a drag on the ticket of a magnitude that is already setting records in the "drag" category all on its own. I feel better when I hear media comments explaining that pundits (yours truly included) found her to be a brilliant selection at first because she did a great job of rallying the base. But since then, revelations of her abuse of office for family retribution and personal financial gain, pregnant teenage daughter, accepting a blessing against witchcraft, claiming that God will play a role in the November 4 election, $150,000 wardrobe, and so on and so on and so on have pushed her negatives higher than her positives. Brilliant choice? Not! Quelle surprise!!

From the Post:

McCain's language underscored the frustration inside his campaign over the wave of negative publicity that has surrounded Palin in recent weeks. When she was first introduced to the country as his running mate in late August, Palin provided a jolt of energy to the campaign, helping McCain consolidate restive conservatives and pull even with Obama in the weeks after the GOP convention. Obama has since opened a lead in most surveys, including a lead of 11 points in the most recent Washington Post-ABC News tracking poll, released Wednesday.

Now I turn your attention to the first part of an interview NBC aired last night with McCain and Palin together.

Some pundits claim the running mates seemed strained when interviewed together. I didn't sense personal strain so much as generational strain. Call this an unfair generalization, but many men of McCain's generation would have a hard time being in the same room as a woman with her skirt hiked up to mid-thigh-length, much less sitting right next to her. Maybe it was merely the fact they're from very different backgrounds, generations, and economic classes. But they seemed strained not so much as a presidential ticket as they did as plain old human beings without much in common. If I were in an NFL locker room, I wouldn't feel too comfortable or like I would have much to say to those guys, either.

By Bonnie Erbe