Media Misses Mark on Silly Sarah

Richard Cohen says it so well today in "Debate's Biggest Loser" (WaPo) ....

"Reading William Kristol's column in yesterday's New York Times, I discover that Sarah Palin and I have something in common. Kristol, who was once Dan Quayle's chief of staff and therefore, shall we say, has a Mister Rogers approach to certain politicians, got Palin on the phone and reported that 'she doesn't have a very high opinion of the mainstream media.' This is where we are in agreement. On account of Palin, neither do I."

The far-right's swooning at Palin's peppy presentation in her vice presidential debate with Sen. Joe Biden last week left them ecstatic and declaring her up to the job a heartbeat away THE job.

Never mind she didn't answer the questions, misrepresented her opponents records and overall acted as if she was a pageant contestant trying for Miss Congeniality.... a crown her surly sidekick McGrumpy McCain says he'll never receive from his fellow legislators just before he declares he's the one to reach across the aisle to get things done.

Embracing Sarah's antics is to be expected from a party that has lost its way and is desperate for someone who's so upbeat she suspends reality.... infusing the anything-goes faithful with the hope that winks and high jinks are the same to voters, especially in this toxic economic environment, as well-thought-out public policy.

What is unforgivable is that same breathless, fawning attitude from the media.

Cohen opines... "Can you imagine the reaction of the press corps if Hillary Clinton had given the audience a 'hiya, sailor' wink? Can you imagine the feverish blogging across the political spectrum if Clinton had claimed credit for stopping a bridge that, in fact, had set her heart aflutter? What if she had shown that she didn't know squat about the Constitution, if she could not tell Katie Couric what newspapers or magazines she read or if she had claimed an intimacy with foreign affairs based on sighting Russia through binoculars?"

There is more than a double standard here, there seems to be no standard at all. The media takes whatever the McCain campaign spews whole cloth and too many times addresses only the style of delivery.... the cuteness factor, the "Joe six-pack" condescending that voters already saw through with Hillary's desperate and futile "shots and beer" waning-campaign gasp.

Hopefully in tonight's debate between McCain and Barack Obama, McCain will bring his grown-up game, not the surly, smearing campaign tactics of the past week.