Let the (back stabbing) games begin!
Friday, November 7, 2008 at 01:21AM 
It took less than twenty-four hours after the presidential election for the back-biting and sniping to begin between the McCain and Palin camps.
This type of blame-gaming isn't unusual following a losing presidential campaign, though the ferocity and the speed of the attacks is unsettling.
Leakers close to McCain have dribbled out all sorts of unflattering information about Palin that go way beyond her expensive wardrobe and diva-ish behavior. The most damning tidbit: Governor Palin (so the leakers would have us believe) didn't know that Africa was a continent, and not a country. A close second: She couldn't name the countries involved in NAFTA (Canada and Mexico).
Whether any of this is true is kind of irrelevant. The fact of the matter is that Palin's "negative storyline" (every candidate has one -- Obama's was that he's an elitist) is that she's a vapid lightweight -- not unlike Dan Quayle. People are going to accept as true stories -- such as this -- that play into her negative storyline ... that's just the nature of political stereotyping. These types of stories, and the others that are sure to follow, will only serve to cement her image as a lightweight, and will make her rehabilitation doubly difficult should she decide to run in 2012.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Palin's camp (if she has one) aggressively leak their side of the story over the next few days. We'll be reading about how the Governor was hamstrung by McCain's advisors, and never allowed to "be herself"; there's a feeling among some conservatives that if McCain had let "Palin be Palin" things would have turned out differently.
Bottom line: the back-biting isn't over. It'll be interesting to read all the insider accounts over the next few days. I'm going to write a longer essay about Palin's future this weekend.
Reader Comments (4)
Who was a better athlete Babe Ruth or Michael Jordan?
Babe - hounds down. Invented the home run; saved the game; ate a lot of hot dogs.
and drank lots of beer and had his way with no shortage of ladies -- yep, he has my vote
There is the steroid question though.