Swimming in the Upstream Media River
Published on October 2, 2008 By KFC Kickin For Christ In Politics

Fair Warning to Palin

By Robert Knight

Well, don't say she hasn't been warned. Sarah Palin cannot make even one mistake in Thursday's debate or she will be cooked.

 

 George Stephanopoulos said so Monday on ABC's Good Morning America:

"Picking up on what Kevin Madden said in David Wright's piece: Number one for Sarah Palin, she cannot make a mistake. A major mistake particularly on foreign policy would be absolutely fatal to her candidacy."

Good Morning America, like NBC's Today Show and CBS' The Early Show, played clips of Tina Fey doing her mocking impersonation of Palin on Saturday Night Live. When did comic impersonations become news?
 
And what about Palin's opponent, Joe Biden? What if he makes a gaffe, as he is wont to do? Last week, Biden said in a speech that, "When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television" to calm the nation. The stock market crashed in 1929, before TV and before Roosevelt was president.
 
No problem. The liberal media have Joe's back and won't make a big deal of it.  Palin made no notable errors last week, yet she was still the one to be savaged.  It's a pity Saturday Night Live can't remove their ideological blinders.  What a great skit Biden might have inspired!  Imagine Bill Murray coming back to portray Biden: "It's just like when George Washington climbed up on a tank to rally the troops at Gettysburg...."
 
Back to reality. During Thursday's debate, the press will be listening so hard for a Palin version of "macaca" that they probably won't even hear what Joe has to say.
 
"Macaca" was the word that helped sink the re-election campaign of Virginia Republican Sen. George Allen in 2006. He had used the word, which means "monkey" in some African nations, jokingly to describe a Democratic operative tracking his campaign events. Allen said his mother used to call him that when he messed up, the equivalent of "rascal." No matter. The media decided that because the Democratic staffer was of Indian ancestry, macaca was an openly racist term, just the thing a sitting U.S. senator would say in a racially diverse state like Virginia. The Washington Post in particular beat up Allen with macaca for the next month, using the term dozens of times. Allen never recovered and Jim Webb narrowly won his Senate seat.
 
Here's the rule of thumb: When a liberal misspeaks, it's a slip of the tongue. We all make mistakes. If you are a conservative, however, you commit an unforgiveable sin that must be revisited a thousand times until you are out of Purgatory – or office, whichever comes first.
 
On Friday, Barack Obama made two mistakes that the media would have used to crucify McCain had he made similar errors.
 
First, Obama misstated that Henry Kissinger would support meeting enemies like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without preconditions. Even when McCain corrected him, Obama repeated the point. Immediately after the debate, Kissinger issued a statement that rebutted Obama in no uncertain terms. Gotcha! The media's reaction? Snore. Bury that sucker in reams of copy.
 
Another suitable moment for carving into a media bat came after John McCain showed his metal bracelet worn in memory of Cpl. Matthew Stanley, who was killed in Iraq. Obama noted that he, too, wore a bracelet for a fallen soldier. Then he forgot the name of Sgt. Ryan David Jopek and had to look down and read it.
 
It's not awful, and could happen to anyone, but can anyone honestly imagine that the media would have ignored this had McCain been the forgetful one? Another wrinkle: Jopek's mother, an Obama supporter who had given him the bracelet, had e-mailed the Obama campaign and asked Obama not to use her son's name in either speeches or debates. As Newsbusters' Warner Todd Huston reported, the AP said Sunday that she had, indeed, asked him not to do this, but had been okay with how Obama presented it during the televised debate. Again, imagine what the media would have done had McCain been asked by a parent not to invoke a deceased son's name and then done so?
 
The Culture and Media Institute just released a new special report, "
'Character' the Most Important Issue in the Presidential Primary Debates." One striking finding was that the media asked the Democrats nearly twice as many "softball" questions as they asked Republicans. Republicans got 25 percent softballs, Democrats 48 percent.
 
Being a liberal in a political campaign is a bit like being a cornerback in a fixed football game. He can take cheap shots at receivers all day, knowing the referees will never call him on it. On the other side of the ball, the quarterback can throw all bombs he wants, knowing that if one is picked off, the refs will find a way to nullify the play.
 
Keep in mind that the moderator for Thursday's debate is PBS's Gwen Ifill, who has just written a pro-Obama book, The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama. As Michelle Malkin notes on her website, the book's promo says Ifill is "introducing the emerging young African American politicians forging a bold new path to political power."
 
Meanwhile the scribes are sharpening their poison pens and polishing their gun sights, otherwise known as cameras. They'll be ready to draw more blood from Mrs. Palin than a bite from an Alaskan mosquito.
 
As for Joe, he can take comfort in the knowledge that his next gaffe won't have a long shelf life, and that he can sit back, Biden his time.

 


Comments
on Oct 02, 2008

It's a classic tactic of the unethical, set up an impossible standard for your opponent, then crucify them for not meeting it.

What it really says is that the democrats have no honest way to defeat Palin, so they are left with sleezy tactics.

 

on Oct 02, 2008

Imagine Bill Murray coming back to portray Biden: "It's just like when George Washington climbed up on a tank to rally the troops at Gettysburg...."

That would be classic!  maybe SNL can do a guest appearance by Bill.

on Oct 02, 2008

This is an old leftist routine already. The deck has always been stacked against the Republican when it comes to media coverage. You have to remember that these are the same people who called Ronald Reagan an 'amiable dunce.'  The only problem with Palin is that shes been mismanaged by the McCain campaign. She shouldn't be playing gotcha interviews with hacks like Couric and Gibson. She should have been on the View, giving press conferences, etc. And most importantly... she should just be herself. 

on Oct 02, 2008

I thought Fox had an interesting take on this. 


Because of the news regarding Ifill's book they are thinking more people are going to be watching both the answers and possibly even more closely the questions being asked.  I think I'm in agreement with what I am hearing from the Alaskan people that Sarah just needs to really be herself on the stage. 

I think people keep forgetting that she has INCREDIBLY high ratings by Alaskans.  Sure you can't please everyone but more than 3/4 of the people is pretty remarkable, even if it were low populated state.

The media reminds me of Junior High where the likeable people were slandered by the notso likeable people out of jealousy. 

on Oct 02, 2008

I just wonder how bad Palin's going to flail.  If her interviews with Katie Couric are any indication, this'll be a laugh riot.

~Zoo

on Oct 02, 2008

The media reminds me of Junior High where the likeable people were slandered by the notso likeable people out of jealousy.

exactly AD.  That's what I thought too.

I remember when we moved to a new town, my son was in 8th grade.  He was a very good basketball player upstaging the two or three "top" players that were already established at the new school.  Instead of welcoming him with open arms they ostricized him because of jealousy.  The reputations were already in place and there was no room for a new kid in town.  My son unknowingly at first showed them up  having years of training beforehand.   He was getting attention not only from the coaches and teachers but the other kids who watched him play.  

One teacher called to tell me she felt bad that my son was sitting alone at lunch while the other BB players were all eating lunch together totally ignoring my son and not letting them into their "cool" club.   They never did warm up to him.  In HS he was named Captain of the Varsity team. Many of those JR high players never went on to play past Freshman year. 

That's what all these radical feminists and liberal media remind me of.  They are totally coming unglued with this new gal in town. 

on Oct 02, 2008

Hey zoo, if you really want some laughs you should keep an eye on Biden. His latest string of Gaffes may be some of the funniest I have ever seen. Especially the one where he conjures up FDR as the president during the Great Depression.

on Oct 02, 2008

Hey zoo, if you really want some laughs you should keep an eye on Biden. His latest string of Gaffes may be some of the funniest I have ever seen. Especially the one where he conjures up FDR as the president during the Great Depression.

Then we are going to have an awesome(by that I mean hilarious, yet sad) VP debate!

~Zoo

on Oct 02, 2008

Especially the one where he conjures up FDR as the president during the Great Depression.

you mean the one when FDR comes on TV that hadn't been invented yet?  Reminiscent of Gore inventing the internet? 

Then we are going to have an awesome(by that I mean hilarious, yet sad) VP debate

well let's meet back here tomorrow and compare notes.  I'm thinking my notes will be diff than yours for sure Zoo! 

on Oct 03, 2008

I thought she did fine, wasn't intimidated & did nothing to hurt McCain.  Same with Joe, though he came across as the much more 'negative' of the two.  Perhaps the country is in a pessimistic mood right now, but she was clearly the only optimist in this debate.  I would call it a draw, which is a victory for Palin & a huge disappointment for the press itching to splash a gaffe in 72 point type above the fold.  It'll be interesting if the only thing we hear about from the NYT is 'Talabani' with no mention of 'Bosniaks.'

Bottom line is, no make or break for either campaign from this.

on Oct 03, 2008

on TV that hadn't been invented yet?

Actually, TV had been invented.  It was just not in general use (no TV stations).

on Oct 03, 2008

I thought she did fine

me too.  I would call it a draw as well.  In fact as we watched it last night, I thought Biden may have done better the first half and she did better the second.  Then Tom Brokow got on and said the opposite.  So I guess it's what we're looking for.  I thought she came across as sunny and cheery and full of spunk while he looked tired, sad and old next to her. 

But overall both did well for their perspective tickets.  Hopefully that will shut the media up for a bit......but will not hold my breath just in case. 

Actually, TV had been invented. It was just not in general use (no TV stations).

OK, that's sort of what I meant, not in the homes yet.  Most of us over 45 can still remember either the first TV or the first color TV brought into the home.