Why All the Unfavorable Republican Leaks about Sarah Palin? (Updated) 0
Over the past couple of days, before the McCain campaign has even had a chance to cool, McCain operatives are trashing their vice-presidential nominee. Frankly, my opinion of her got lower and lower as the campaign progressed, and I posted about the things she did and said that caused me the greatest discomporfort, most notably here.
But this orgy of internecine back-stabbing is quite remarkable.
See, for example, here and here.
Whatever one’s opinion of Palin, she did not nominate herself as vice president. Her party’s candidate called her, and she responded.
If she were the wrong choice, that was not her doing. And I predict she’s going to pay a high political price for answering that phone call.
Why are the GOP long-knives out to get her?
Graachus over at the Great Orange Satan has a theory. The language is more harshly stated than I would normally use, but I think the theory is still worth considering. I’ve edited the portion that I quoted below, both to make it more concise and to remove some of the more just flat-out insulting adjectives. If you want to read the original, just follow the link.
(Aside: Even though Sarah Palin may not have the philosophy, background, temperament, nor seasoning to serve as vice president, much less as president, frankly, some of the adjectives in the source were wholly uncalled for; what is important is not what the post suggests about her; it what is suggests about her party. And there I think it is spot on.)
The problem is that the crazies are getting restless, and want to run the party themselves, not just provide the voting muscle. This makes the richies nervous . . . .
(snip)
Palin also scares them, as she’s drawn from the same group (as Huckabee–ed.) . . . And the people who run the party aren’t fools, just dedicated to their own interests: they realize that she’s incredibly ignorant, and probably dangerous beyond a point they’re willing to tolerate.
In short, says the GOP to the Christian right, “Vote for us, but don’t expect us to take you seriously. And if you start to get a power-base in the larger party, we’ll take you down.”
Addendum:
Atrios has more on the scapegoating of Sarah Palin.
