Posted on 09/28/2008 8:17:49 PM PDT by Chet 99
-snip-
With respect to his campaign, McCain needs to liberate his running mate from the former Bush aides brought in to handle her — aides who seem to have succeeded in importing to the Palin campaign the trademark defensive crouch of the Bush White House. McCain picked Sarah Palin in part because she’s a talented politician and communicator. He needs to free her to use her political talents and to communicate in her own voice.
I’m told McCain recently expressed unhappiness with his staff’s handling of Palin. On Sunday he dispatched his top aides Steve Schmidt and Rick Davis to join Palin in Philadelphia. They’re supposed to liberate Palin to go on the offensive as a combative conservative in the vice-presidential debate on Thursday.
That debate is important. McCain took a risk in choosing Palin. If she does poorly, it will reflect badly on his judgment. If she does well, it will be a shot in the arm for his campaign.
In the debate, Palin has to dispatch quickly any queries about herself, and confidently assert that of course she’s qualified to be vice president. She should spend her time making the case for McCain and, more important, the case against Obama. As one shrewd McCain supporter told me, “Every minute she spends not telling the American people something that makes them less well disposed to Obama is a minute wasted.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I hear Bill Kristol several times a week and from the time McCain picked Sarah Palin for VP, he has been very supportive and this article is in line with his remarks right along.
Sarah can Triangulate in the debate by using comments from Obama and Biden they have used against each other.
over the last eight years those responsible for getting him elected are all gone.......that has not been a good thing for Bush.....and the shamnesty lost all his conservative support. Bush’s choice.
You are right , but Palin has her strengths and she has all but disappeared from the campaign trail .
McCain and Palin are two very different types , but they compliment each other quite well .
We need to keep our base energized and she is the only one who can do that . McCain needs to keep the Moderate Middle energized and he is the only one who can do that .
They both need to be out there keeping these two groups interested and engaged .
McCain is mired in Washington and Palin is being hidden ...The campaign better be planning for a final massive offensive or we are doomed .
Bush's biggest weakness is that his style is that of prevent (from winning) defense. We're trailing. We can't give up easy runs up the gut and short passes. We need to be aggressive, blitz, and be willing to throw the football.
Or in hockey terms, we need to forecheck, pinch in, and crash the net.
They are going to let her go get him. About time.
Kristol has been a big fan of Palin’s before most of us at FR ever heard of her
Please Mac, let her play by her rule!
I think it is clear, the kind of offensive that must be. They must drive the public impression of Barack Obama into the dirt. And all they have to do is tell the truth.
“On Sunday he dispatched his top aides Steve Schmidt and Rick Davis to join Palin in Philadelphia. They’re supposed to liberate Palin to go on the offensive as a combative conservative in the vice-presidential debate on Thursday.”
Hallelujah!!
Tatt
On rare occasions, Bill Kristol nails it. This is one of those times.
This VP debate will get the highest ratings of any of the 4 debates this year. Mark my word, the audience will be huge. Probably 40-45 million viewers.
Precisely. The entertainment factor is VERY high, and that's what drives television.
Finally some good news...let her go.
“Palin should have a decent size contingent from her trusted confidantes from her Mayor and Governorship campaigns.”
This in an EXCELLENT point and idea. Even if they only added 2-3, it might give her a little more comfort to have those she trusts around, you know? I mean - she’s strong enough to handle things without them, but it probably would be comforting to have some staff members that know you backwards and forwards, you know?
Uhhhhhh, Bill Kristol? He’s been wrong about everything. I can’t wait to take this party back from the Rumsfeld-Kristol-Cheney gang. They’ve destroyed our party and mangled our economy. They’ve involved us in a war against a fourth rate power and cannot win it after six years. They’ve brought our economy to a level not seen since 1928. Abandon this incompetent, renegade cult that has betrayed the legacy of the last true Republican, Dwight David Eisenhower. Out of the ashes we will rebuild a party of fiscal responsibility, personal freedom, resistance to the military-industrial complex, and a firm Jeffersonian conviction to force religion back into the church where it belongs. We will no longer put forth candidates who believe that the Earth is only 6,000 years old. We will emphasize modernity, science and education. We will steward a green earth and honor the charity of Lincoln and the prophetic words on the Statue of Liberty. A new day and a new Republican Party is coming. Get on board.
The Bush presidency started going down the toilet right around the time Ari Fleischer was replaced with that backstabbing fool Scott McClellan
Yeah he doesn’t sit right with me either ...what’s his story ?
Mike Huckabee should be (should have been by now) sought as a prime confidant, council, and mentor of Sarah Palin.
Your not one of those “ Don’t vote this time” idiots ?
Your at the wrong site tonight !
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