An open letter to politicos about the “Palin Effect”

This is not your average FS story.

As a right leaning middle american male, I have observed that the Palin effect on Digg is astounding.  Sarah Palin has taken the country by storm and it doesn’t stop at the ideological border.  Ms. Palin seems to have not only have rallied the base of the Republican party, but she has stunned and raised the ire of the left.

Stories about Ms. Palin have not only besieged the main stream press, but have littered the left wing blogs, newspaper commentaries, and television programs.  Her nomination has made more than a ripple in the political landscape, it could be more closely compared to a tsunami.  Just as an example of this effect, Digg has seen an average of 1 Palin related story hitting the front page every 3 hours in the past week ending September 13, 2008.  (A large number of these marked as inaccurate).  Ask Keith Olbermann if this a ripple or tidal wave.

Since her nomination smear machines (Huff Post, Daily Kos) have been in overdrive, with stories of distortions and some out right lies concerning everything from policy stances to personal life.  All the while, poll numbers continue to improve for the McCain-Palin ticket, despite a record number of Democratic registrations.  It seems that the McCain campaign has seized on a weakness of their opponents.  The insatiable appetite for political destruction of the right.  The rabid fervor of the left has led them to try and smear Ms. Palin and has left Mr. McCain to go on the offensive, unscathed.  They have counted on this tactic of the left to cause a backlash, which to this point it has, and lead to Mr. McCains election in November.  To say that the choice of Ms. Palin was a brilliant political move is a massive understatement.  Every attack from the left on Ms. Palin for anything besides innocuous policy, brings in a few more moderate and right wing voters.  Not only has this tactic worked to make the left look visceral in their response, but has made the “maverick” persona more ingrained and made the press even more afraid to press Ms. Palin too much, to avoid the appearance of “attacking” her.

Just as the Clinton campaign realized in 1992, the media can be a strategic ally.  Instead of running away from the media, politicians have learned to play along and use the media.  This time it seems that even the blogs have become a tool of the Republicans and the Democrats here in the general election.  If the Democrats are to win this election they better get a handle on the blogs. The choice of Ms. Palin has brought the right wing of the Republican party into the fold and brought the attacks against her from the fringe left.  Even as Mr. Obama denounces the attacks, they continue to mount and are seen by middle America as baseless or personal. 

This election, the left wing blogs are being run against, as much as Mr. Obama is, and the left wants to win as much as right wing and moderate Democrats.  The odd thing is that the left seems content to cut off its own nose to spite the face of mainstream Democratic voters.

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