Saturday, September 27, 2008

Empathy for Palin

Something has gone terribly wrong with Sarah Palin. Did you see the Couric interview? It was a complete and utter disaster for her. Thanks to the economic meltdown and McCain’s grandstanding, it hasn’t gotten the scrutiny it deserves yet. In fact, many people think that McCain’s act last week was an attempt to keep Palin’s interview out of the news cycle. However, the interview was so spectacularly bad – it will not go away. Ever. Absolutely, completely cringe-inducing. Watch it.

And, what has surprised me, I am beginning to feel really sorry for her. The NY Times Columnist, Judith Warner, describes similar feelings about Palin’s self-inflicted plight in a piece entitled “Poor Sarah”:
http://warner.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/25/poor-sarah/?ref=opinion

In a nutshell, Palin seems to have lost her greatest strength – her self-confidence. She was very hesitant, very unsure – stumbling through all the questions searching for the right soundbite. It was truly pathetic.

It was so pathetic that there are beginning to be some conservative grumblings that Palin should drop off the ticket after her self-destructive interview with Couric. Leading the pack is Kathleen Parker of the very conservative National Review. Her opinion: Palin “Is Clearly Out Of Her League”. http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MDZiMDhjYTU1NmI5Y2MwZjg2MWNiMWMyYTUxZDkwNTE

So, what happened to her self-confidence? It seemed to be her defining characteristic. Christopher Orr at the New Republic thinks the McCain campaign broke her:
http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/the_plank/archive/2008/09/26/has-the-mccain-campaign-broken-sarah-palin.aspx

While I want her to stay broken – what can I say – I have empathy for her. But, I sleep much better!

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