Palin Unplugged
has the maverick vp candidate already left a dying campaign behind?
2008-10-29
By Terry Glover

Call me irrationally exuberant, but, six days before the general election, I’d like to take this moment to make an objective assessment of Sarah Palin, and by association, the McCain campaign. As national polls have Obama leading by considerable digits, the sense of doom is palpable aboard the Straight Talk Express, and blame is being assigned with astounding swiftness.

Republican aides, both id’d and anonymous, have taken to lobbing grenades, not at the chaos that is the McCain campaign, but directly at Palin’s designer Kevlar. Over the course of the last seven days, sample headlines using actual quotes reveal the internal dysfunction: “Palin Called ‘A Diva’”; “Palin ‘Going Rogue’” ; “Palin Alone Aboard Bus”; “Top McCain Aides: Palin Simply Knew Nothing About National and International Issues” ; and, my personal favorite, “Palin is a ‘Wack Job’.”  Seven days is a lifetime in the course of a campaign. Seven days can be an eternity when the wheels have fallen off. The honeymoon -- started the first week in September -- is over as the jolt the campaign received from Palin’s presence is beginning to feel more like being tasered.

While the campaign took a reasonable shot at gaining a significant number of votes by choosing a woman and fellow maverick, what they didn’t bank on was that woman turning all maverick-y on them. Palin broke out of the chute like a rodeo bull, bucking beltway politics, “liberal media,” and, increasingly, the platform of her running mate.

In the face of media criticism about her preparedness and the campaign’s waning fortunes, she has started to chafe at the constraints put upon her by the campaign and their refusal to “let Sarah be Sarah.” Undeterred, she has been accused of going off script to the point where she is directly contradicting campaign policies. Robo-calls? She hates 'em, even as her campaign defends them.  Pulling out of Michigan? She didn’t want to cut and run. Designer duds? Consignment! And so on, to the point of McCain sources wondering out loud if her gaffes have been intentional. Probably. It’s quite likely that Palin has seen the writing on the wall and is taking this media moment to set herself apart. Should have a familiar ring for McCain.

On the tarmac in Colorado, nerves were frayed as she wandered, unchapheroned, over to the press corps despite instructions to steer clear. At several rallies, she has taken the opportunity to tout her own accomplishments in Alaska, rather than promoting McCain’s platform. The recent conviction of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens has seen her calling for Stevens to relinquish his Senate post – an obvious bridge to keeping a national profile for Palin. There’s no denying she already has the support of the base whose chains she so effectively rattles. Signs for “Palin-McCain” and calls for  “Palin in 2012” have been evident at Palin campaign stops. She has done nothing to dissuade the rumblings. Four years would give her a chance to become a more seasoned politician, and she would have a chance to sample, up close and personal, the Beltway pork she so vociferously aims to gut. One thing is certain: Now that she’s had a taste of the national spotlight, there’s no way to keep her chillin’  on the tundra. Anchorage isn’t big enough for her political ambitions.

So, in the end, it could very well be that the real winner coming out of the GOP will be the barracuda from Wasilla. Maverick, indeed.

Terry Glover is Senior Editor for Ebonyjet.com. She writes about trends and popular culture.