Palin - ...What else can you say. She has a great record but so much damage was done during the last campaign.”
Few things:
1) if anything the media ordeal she went through is HER BEST ASSET. Palin’s BEEN through the media meat grinding machine unlike the other potentials and has come out stronger. Compare how she is now with how GW Bush was his second term—his administration was virtually demoralized by the media, while Palin has proven her savvy and gained more strength from the greatest media adverity possible. She’s used notoriety—both negative and positive to her advantage, and it’s working.
** Also think about Obama, whose poll numbers suffer now because of the overly high expectations the adoring media set for him. High expectations too early can prove to be a curse.
2) Media savvy is an important strength to have WHILE in OFFICE too—not just while campaigning. In this media age, the success of your agenda and persuading the public to trust your decisions depends on how skillfully you can handle the media and control the way your message is presented. Sarah’s been able to be a trailblazer in this regard with her facebook, OP-eds, etc...she’s practically put journalists in a subordinate position. (I also believe the “failures” of ‘08 were due to the McCain staffers’ decisions—they had a horrible media strategy and were doing even worse before the VP pick—things would have worked out way better had they allowed Palin to fully “go rogue.”)
3) NO SKELETONS to come out of the closet. Every possible piece of “dirt” has already been revealed AND she’s been able to clear up a lot of suff with her bestselling book. People realize that much of the stuff that came out about her were rumors. That and many independents who may have been skeptical are warming up to her. Not to mention there is an overall disenchantment with the mainstream media now anyway.
4) Longtime experience can often be a disadvantage: that means the more potential for skeletons to be dug up, more mistakes in judgment that could be revealed, more enemies made, etc...Think Huckabee with the Clemmons pardon and Romney with the universal healthcare he instituted in Massachusetts.
5) Lastly PEOPLE OVERESTIMATE the impact of the Couric interview on the overall result of the election—on how people come out of the actually VOTED vs. what media pundits and celeb gossipers talk about on TV. obama had it in the bag regardless of who mccain chose and mccain would have lost by a much wider margin had palin not been on the ticket.
I agree with everything you have said.