Why Sarah Palin Has the Democrats Running Scared.

Image via Wikipedia Commentary by Caroline Baum


Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Alaska Governor Sarah Palin electrified the Republican National Convention with her acceptance speech two weeks ago.
And why not? The GOP vice presidential candidate is attractive (hold the accusations of sexism, please), articulate, poised, enthusiastic, homespun, a fresh face with a girl-next- door appeal.
She's everything, in other words, that John McCain is not.


After watching the McCain campaign sleepwalk through the summer, the Democrats can't get their arms around the Palin phenomenon. Who is she -- a Mayor from Nowhere! -- to come along, light a fire under the GOP ticket and threaten our path to the White House?
The spirited response to Palin by the Republican delegates in St. Paul is one thing. These are her people, the almighty GOP base.


When her popularity spilled over to the public at large and manifested itself in fundraising and opinion polls -- the GOP ticket is now tied with or ahead of the Democrats -- it was a real affront to the Democrats.
After all, ``this is our moment,'' ``this is our time,'' Barack Obama said in a June 3 speech after wrapping up the Democratic presidential nomination.
He's right. The 2008 presidential election is the Democrats' to lose.
An attitude of inevitability, of entitlement even, pervaded the Democratic Party -- until it was rudely punctured two weeks ago by the Palin phenom.
Co-Opting Change


The bursting of the inevitability bubble was on view in the real-time reaction to Palin's acceptance speech. The liberal pundits on cable news were clearly caught off guard by Palin's poise in front of an audience just a bit larger than the population of Wasilla. They were speechless. Seriously. Their jaws were moving, but nothing comprehensible was coming out.
It was on view in Barack Obama's demeanor on the campaign trail following the GOP convention. The candidate has gone flat.


And it was on view in the sheer glee the press took in turning over rocks, or icebergs, in Alaska to find some contradictions in Palin's assertions about the fabled Bridge to Nowhere.
On top of that, McCain and Palin have insinuated ``change'' into their campaign. How dare they steal our thunder, the Dems complain. We're the party of change. We're running against the incumbent president. They can't run as anti-incumbents, too.
Experience Boomerang


In short, the Democrats are running scared. And it's not for the reasons you think.
The fear has nothing to do with Palin's views. She likes guns, opposes abortion, wants to drill, is against a windfall profits tax on oil companies, wants to cut spending and earmarks, believes raising taxes hurts small business. She pretty much shares McCain's views on those issues.
The fear has nothing to do with Palin's inexperience -- six years as mayor of small-town Wasilla and two years as governor of Alaska, the largest, albeit a sparsely populated, state. If elected, Palin would be a ``heartbeat away'' from the Oval Office, her critics like to point out.
If she's a heartbeat away on Day Two, President Obama, with zero executive experience, is at mission control on Day One. Accusations of Palin's inexperience ultimately boomerang back to Obama's slim resume.
Loser Image


Besides, no one votes for vice president. The last time a vice presidential pick had a clear impact on the election outcome was John F. Kennedy's selection of Lyndon B. Johnson, who helped JFK carry Texas, according to presidential historians. (Why, then, do we spend endless hours handicapping and analyzing the VP choice every four years?)
No, the real reason the Democrats are scared to death of Palin's popularity is because if they lose this election, it will mean they are bankrupt as a party.
If the Democrats can't win a presidential election after eight years of an unpopular president, five years of an unpopular war, in the face of a lousy economy, a collapse in the housing market and overwhelming sentiment that the country is on the wrong track, it means something is terribly wrong.


This is as good as it gets for a party out of power. A loss in November would be embarrassing -- no, humiliating -- to the Democrats.
If they lose in '08, they will have no one to blame but themselves. Sarah Palin has raised the odds of a Democratic loss. That's why she has to be destroyed.