Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Obama Can't Win Against Palin (Karl Rove)
Wall Street Journal ^ | Sept. 11, 2008 | Karl Rove

Posted on 09/10/2008 10:43:47 PM PDT by Clairity

Of all the advantages Gov. Sarah Palin has brought to the GOP ticket, the most important may be that she has gotten into Barack Obama's head. How else to explain Sen. Obama's decision to go one-on-one against "Sarah Barracuda," captain of the Wasilla High state basketball champs?

It's a matchup he'll lose. If Mr. Obama wants to win, he needs to remember he's running against John McCain for president, not Mrs. Palin for vice president.

In Mrs. Palin, Mr. Obama faces a political phenomenon who has altered the election's dynamics. Americans have rarely seen someone who immediately connects with large numbers of voters at such a visceral level. Mrs. Palin may be the first vice presidential candidate since Lyndon B. Johnson to change an election's outcome. If Mr. Obama keeps attacking her, the odds of Gov. Palin becoming Vice President Palin increase significantly.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: electionpresident; elections; karlrove; mccain; mccainpalin; obama; obamabiden; palin; rove
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-52 next last
To: roses of sharon
I think I've noticed a trend, some evidence of which exists on the comments section of the nationalpost.com column.

Young unmarried males in their early 20s calling talk shows and writing critiques about the hypocracy of Republican family values when Palin won't stay home with her Down's syndrome baby and her daughter is pregnant, blah, blah.

All of these young "men" would be of an age to have girlfriends and abortions.

21 posted on 09/10/2008 11:10:09 PM PDT by GVnana ("The American presidency is not supposed to be a journey of personal discovery.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]


22 posted on 09/10/2008 11:11:02 PM PDT by Clairity (To learn about upcoming events go to http://www.johnmccain.com and enter your zip code)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: roses of sharon
Humour is permitted entry to dark cavities closed to straight criticism, so Palin used steady-handed wit as her probe.

That is my favorite line from this excellent article.

23 posted on 09/10/2008 11:12:48 PM PDT by stripes1776 ("That if gold rust, what hall iron do?" --Chaucer)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Southack
Rove’s taunting the Rock Star!

Of course... Mr. Rove *knows* Obama's Achilles' Heel, his lack of a sense of humor. Obama cannot stand ridicule, and Rove's protege, Steven Schmidt, has been using that weapon against him, for about 8 weeks now, keeping Obama off-balance, off-message, and most importantly, on the defensive ... Net result, Obama, being rattled (remember that *this* is his first actually contested election), has made error, after error, which in turn invites more of the dreaded ridicule.

It was all very low-key, at first, but effective, nonetheless. Now, it is more open, and more devastating. Expect it to continue, until this arrogant, humorless poseur goes into ultimate meltdown...

the infowarrior

24 posted on 09/10/2008 11:14:44 PM PDT by infowarrior (“Let the voters decide if Palin is laughable.”-Tublecane)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Clairity; All
I've read so many of our world's learned (read: waaaaay smarter than YOU are) writers and would-be writers and their opinions about Gov. Palin that I can't remember where this particular statement came from, but I read an astonishing statement from one of the "learneds," the gist of which was that Sarah Palin's name would be soon forgotten by history. I beg to differ - tell me that history and Americans will ever forget this woman, whether the GOP wins or loses this November!
25 posted on 09/10/2008 11:17:59 PM PDT by Theresawithanh (I've got the fevah!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Theresawithanh

Sarah will be around for a long time.


26 posted on 09/10/2008 11:22:55 PM PDT by se_ohio_young_conservative (Reagan conservatism is back ! .. Thank God for Sarah.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: Bryan24
Whoever is running McCains campaign is doing a MASTERFUL job the past 2 weeks.

Rove nails the situation perfectly.

The man who is running the McCain campaign has been doing a MASTERFUL job for longer than the last two weeks, more like the last two months. Seeing the way the winds were blowing in the opposition camp, they carefully zinged Obama with shots, which while *not* immediately fatal, would cause him to either lose support, or not gain it in the first place, keeping the race much tighter than anybody expected, and goading Obama into making tactical, and strategic errors, time and again. In turn they would capitalize on those errors, to subtly increase the pressure, all the way to the Dem convention, keeping Obama a viable candidiate, while keeping the race tighter than anyone expected.

It was at that point, that the Governor Palin ambush was sprung (it had obviously been planned for a while prior, and kept totally secret). Obama and company had ben off-balance, off their message, and most importantly, on the defensive, going *into* their convention, and less than tweleve hours later, they were reeling. They are *still* reeling, and it shows.

Rove knows all this, because he knows the man who set it up, his own protege, Steven Schmidt...

the infowarrior

27 posted on 09/10/2008 11:27:32 PM PDT by infowarrior (“Let the voters decide if Palin is laughable.”-Tublecane)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: roses of sharon; neverdem

Accurate.

Excellent find!


28 posted on 09/10/2008 11:29:34 PM PDT by Robert A Cook PE (I can only donate monthly, but Hillary's ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: wardaddy

yah. I remember Rush saying that. ‘just put a real conservative on the ticket’ a couple of weeks back. I’ve never seen libs more unhinged than they are atm.


29 posted on 09/10/2008 11:40:41 PM PDT by Ancient Drive
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Clairity
Of all the advantages Gov. Sarah Palin has brought to the GOP ticket, the most important may be that she has gotten into Barack Obama's head.

Dennis Miller made much the same observation tonight on O'Reilly when he said that Obama is off his message because Gov. Palin had "gotten into Obama's melon".

30 posted on 09/10/2008 11:41:29 PM PDT by Octar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: GVnana
All of these young "men" would be of an age to have girlfriends and abortions.

I think even more important as to why they are calling talk shows and writing critiques is the fact that they are being paid by Obama, Daily kos, moveon.org, DNC, George Soros and the like!

31 posted on 09/10/2008 11:51:34 PM PDT by top 2 toe red (Thankfully... there are some Conservatives that are not consumed by hate. Some=99.87%)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: infowarrior

Thus if I make a sign that says:

*****************************
Dear Neighbors:

Please pick up your dog droppings.

Thank you,

Your Neighborhood Community Organizer

*****************************

Would that also get under Obama’s skin?


32 posted on 09/10/2008 11:57:15 PM PDT by ROTB (Our Constitution [is] for a [Christian] people. It is wholly inadequate [for] any other. -John Adams)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: se_ohio_young_conservative
Sarah can do in the Midwest what Lyndon Johnson did for JFK in the south. Kind of run as the regional candidate and shovel in critical electoral college votes.

Sarah does not belong in the same sentence with Landslide Lyndon.

33 posted on 09/10/2008 11:58:10 PM PDT by cynwoody
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Clairity

More than likely McCain/Palin will win and the real question is by how much. What will interesting to watch is how the RATS dismantle Obama after Nov.

The McCain/Palin people have framed the arguement and Obama goons know it. They are in the ol catch 22 situation and unless omething really weird happens they will continue to play catch up......a losing stratagy.

Early Obama crowds were impressive and the momentum seemed real but something happened. Some have suggested the college crowd is back at school. Now they plan tightly controlled events...well staged. The bloom is off.

McCain/Palin are drawing huge crowds and not organized by special groups...just folks. Neighbors and friends sharing a ride to the event type stuff. Conservatives and/or Republicans never manage to get big crowds. Never. They are too busy with work and family. This is the key.

There is a equation used by pollsters/bean counters that takes a crowd size and turns it into actual support. I dont know how well these numbers pan out but if a crowd of 1000 RATS equates a support of 10,000 surely a crowd of 1000 conservatives/Republicans equates to a much larger number of supporters.

Thats my take on it and Im sticking to it!

The Palin factor has has folks wound up like Ive never seen....not even Reagan.


34 posted on 09/11/2008 12:04:04 AM PDT by rrrod
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: infowarrior
The man who is running the McCain campaign has been doing a MASTERFUL job for longer than the last two weeks, more like the last two months. Seeing the way the winds were blowing in the opposition camp, they carefully zinged Obama with shots, which while *not* immediately fatal, would cause him to either lose support, or not gain it in the first place, keeping the race much tighter than anybody expected, and goading Obama into making tactical, and strategic errors, time and again. In turn they would capitalize on those errors, to subtly increase the pressure, all the way to the Dem convention, keeping Obama a viable candidiate, while keeping the race tighter than anyone expected.

I think there's a lot of truth in this. The effect of the celebrity ads was to make Obama think the election was going to be about his seriousness and celebrity. So he toned down the convention and selected an old Washington insider as his VP. Obama's convention speech sounded a lot more like John Kerry than it did Barak Obama. Lots of issues. Lots of attacks. Basically, your run-of-the-mill liberal candidate for president.

Then the trap was sprung. Turns out, the election is about change change change reform reform reform. Palin was part of that. McCain's speech locked that in. Obama had already shifted gears to be a serious guy with experience and experienced hands who knows a lot about ten point policy proposals. And then, the coup de grace. The symbol of change on the ticket, Governor Palin, sliced him up on the issue he had just tried to cover.

So he's been defending the new stance (experience) now for two weeks against a VP who is more qualified than he and hasn't gotten back to change.

He'll get back on stride eventually and the election will be close. I really don't expect a major meltdown. It would be yummy though if he fired a bunch of his senior campaign folks. That would signal meltdown.

35 posted on 09/11/2008 12:08:19 AM PDT by ModelBreaker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: Clairity
It's a matchup he'll lose. If Mr. Obama wants to win, he needs to remember he's running against John McCain for president, not Mrs. Palin for vice president.

Don't listen to him, Barry. It's a Karl Rove trick! Keep attacking and running against Sarah. ; )

36 posted on 09/11/2008 12:10:06 AM PDT by TigersEye (Buckhead of the Bikini-clad Barracuda)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: infowarrior

Looks like it might be time to fire up the “Schmidt you magnificent bastard!” meme. Heh heh...


37 posted on 09/11/2008 12:12:13 AM PDT by thecabal (Conservatives who don't live up to the liberal caricature are now hypocrites.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: Robert A. Cook, PE

Thanks, bfl


38 posted on 09/11/2008 1:04:44 AM PDT by neverdem (I'm praying for a Divine Intervention.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: ModelBreaker
It would be yummy though if he fired a bunch of his senior campaign folks.

That would require Obama to make an actual decision, which he has such a problem doing. I guess he's finding out you can't get elected President by being "PRESENT".
39 posted on 09/11/2008 1:16:31 AM PDT by GLDNGUN
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 35 | View Replies]

To: Clairity
Let's see. some of my ultra-hip liberal friends are cautioning me to stop
going after Sarah Palin because the attacks could backfire.

But now, Karl Rove himself says that I should stop going after Sarah
Palin because the attacks could backfire.

Uhh...uhh...If Karl Rove says to do something, I'm supposed to do the
opposite...
but my lib friends are telling me the same thing! I'm confused!
Oh HOPE BONG! Tell me what to do!

40 posted on 09/11/2008 1:36:56 AM PDT by uglybiker (1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d 2 g3t l41d)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-52 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson