The Sarah Palin Factor

Maybe the writers at SNL get it a bit more than many big city Democrats.

Watching the Palin story from the bleacher seats of my vacation over the past week really had me chuckling at the acrobatic maneuvers of both sides.

For some reason, Barack Obama thought he needed to push the Palin story to the headlines a couple of times, mainly with his own 'lipstick' joke, which violated a key Dupree Election Rule:  Stay Focused and Keep Your Message Focused.

Remember one thing - the media loves to run with a story that's not a real story, mainly because it's more interesting than covering the actual story.

So, if I can write about the lipstick joke and who thinks who called whom a pig or whatever, it's sure a lot more interesting than talking about the real story of the Veep choice.

And that lipstick stuff rumbled for a few days.

Palin is on the campaign trail today out in Colorado, where polls show Obama is maintaining a narrow lead.  It's a key state for Obama, who seems to be operating with a shrinking election map, a map that supposedly was going to include all fifty states.

Obama is in the Centennial State both today and Tuesday, following that up with events in Nevada on Wednesday.  Both of those Western states were once solidly in his corner, but now both are considered toss ups.

The latest polls have Obama leading narrowly in Colorado, with McCain barely ahead in Nevada.  I'm sure Republicans believe that Palin's inclusion on the GOP ticket could well swing those states to the Red column.

It's clear to me that Big City Democrats are (for the most part) unable to understand why Palin has attracted so much support so quickly for the GOP.

I would say it boils down to one simple thing.  Palin's backers think she's much like them.

She's not a professional politician.  She's not a smooth talking machine.  She's a mom with a family that's got its own share of issues.

It also doesn't hurt that she's in her early 40's and attractive.

Palin's selection has aggravated some in both parties.  You had a former McCain strategist calling it "cynical."  Former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan huffed and puffed about it as well, labeling it political BS.

On the Democratic side, it's under their skin, too.  Just look at the firestorm from the Dems over the past two weeks, little of which has been effective.

The media also continues to thump its chest, making the argument that McCain wants to win more than he wants the "right" person for the VP job.

Sounds like there's a lot of people who might be a wee bit jealous that Palin has rocketed to the top in just two weeks time.

In the end, all of them are missing the point.  The snarky GOP'ers.  The opposition Democrats.  The know-it-all-talking-heads and the fashion columnists who ripped her hair.

Sarah Palin has mined a political vein in the heartland, one that Democrats have failed to understand since Reagan's election in 1980.  She seems more "in touch" with the Wal Mart and NASCAR voters than the big city, mainly Eastern Establishment of both parties.

In my opinion, this is simply a twist on the age-old US political battle of urban vs rural, north vs south, governing elite vs populist.

We'll know soon if the Palin surge will recede, leaving a much more easy road to victory for the Democrats.

Palin certainly hasn't clinched anything for the Republicans, but she sure has made the next seven weeks a much different race than if McCain had picked someone like Mitt Romney.

You sure wouldn't be wasting time putting lipstick on him.