Monday, October 13, 2008
I Get So Weary of This ...
From the Corner today:
Respectfully Disagreeing [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
David Frum was on CBS this morning and expressed his view that the choice of Sarah Palin was a mistake. He complained that it was a play to the base that hurts people like Coleman and Dole who need help, and some centering from the top of the ticket would help them and McCain.
Im getting really frustrated with the reflex some on the Right have to want to push conservatism to the side or on hold. Someone has to hold the line at all times. Ideas have consequences. And so do campaign choices.
How about this exciting Sarah Palin talking more about McCains policies that are, in fact conservative? How about Palin talking about his record of good judgment on the surge and fighting against the excesses of government? How about Palin talking about his health-care plan? And I do think that she should continue to talk compassionately about abortion, because few can as she can. This does not reject either conservatism or non-ideological centrists who are moved by populist talk that touches their lives.
10/13 12:59 PM
Reality, TV [Mark R. Levin]
Let's be honest, Frum was invited on CBS because the producer knew he has expressed repeatedly his dislike of Palin. He represents a tiny fraction of conservatives but makes for good liberal TV.
10/13 01:09 PM
re: Reality, TV [Kathryn Jean Lopez]
No question about it, Mark. I never got more media requests than the day I criticized the campaign for holding Palin too tight, overcoaching her, and not setting her free. I didn't do any of those high-profile opportunities because I have no interest in attacking the McCain campaign on NBC or wherever. I want to win this thing. I want to be honest and criticize when necessary and doso here when necessary, but I have no interest in joining or hanging out with or helping the Obama press corps win the campaign for their new darling.
For the record, so I am not misinterpreted: David doesn't say what he says because he wants to be on TV, he says it because he believes it. But the mainstream media is so transparent.
10/13 01:16 PM
I receive emails from readers every day who tell me that the only possible motive I could have for expressing doubts about the McCain ticket is my desire to attend cocktail parties, appear on TV, apply for a job in the Obama administration etc. Now I see this line of accusation appearing in the Corner too.
Let's develop this thought a little. Suppose it were true? Suppose I were indeed a venal, light-minded chaser after television appearances and social invitations. What difference would it make?
Do my correspondents (and now my Corner colleagues) truly believe that - but for my pitiful media and social ambitions - nobody in America would have noticeed that Sarah Palin cannot speak three coherent consecutive words about finance or economics?
In the past month, Sarah Palin's unfavorability ratings have risen by 12 points. She briefly boosted the McCain ticket, but that effect subsided by the end of September. Blue-collar white women (!) now reject Palin as unqualified for the presidency 48-43, according to the Wall-Street Journal/NBC poll.
It's flattering to be told that my eagerness to clink glasses with the Washington social elite is the driving cause behind the shriveling public support for the Alaska governor. Flattering - but not very convincing. Tens of millions of people have tuned in to watch Sarah Palin field questions from Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric, and then to share a stage with Joe Biden. If Palin's public support is now collapsing, it is her own doing.
Possibly it is bad form for me to acknowledge this reality. As one of my correspondents wrote this very morning:
PLEASE KEEP YOUR REMARKS TO YOURSELF! Nobody but Democrats wants to hear them.
Well he may have a point.
Perhaps it is our job at NRO is tell our readers only what they want to hear, without much regard to whether it is true. Perhaps it is our duty just to keep smiling and to insist that everything is dandy - that John McCain's economic policies make sense, that his selection of Sarah Palin was an act of statesmanship, that she herself is the second coming of Anna Schwartz, and that nobody but an over-educated snob would ever suggest otherwise.
Who knows? Perhaps if I do that enthusiastically enough, somebody somewhere might even pour me a free drink or invite me onto the airwaves for a 3 minute Monday morning sunrise interview. And after all: What else could I possibly want?