Obama: Rip McCain on His 'Reckless' Palin Pick - GET POLITICAL w/ VIC LIVINGSTON

  • Too late to hope for a Palin implosion?

  • How About a "Hail Hillary" fourth-quarter VP lateral?

Media-spawned stereotypes -- the good-lookin' tough gal with an acid tongue and a heart of gold, for example -- die hard.

Last night's Sarah Palin interview with Charlie Gibson seems to have served as something of a Rorschach test, depending on viewer predisposition: If you think the novice Alaska governor lacks the qualifications and gravitas for the job, the session reinforced your feelings. If you admire Palin's spunk and Annie Oakley persona, you came away with your prejudices reinforced.

Nuanced advertising that tries to school voters on the difference between "real" change as opposed to opportunistic "change" -- ads like the new Obama spot, where the candidate himself appeals plaintively into the camera -- just can't keep a tough gal down.

Obama, a former college professor, still seems to think he can tutor voters into seeing the light. But a "real" change" versus "phony change" argument misses the point. Why is Obama afraid to tell it like it is? Just come out and say what many thinking people believe, Barack:

Putting a novice with extreme views a heartbeat away from the presidency endangers American interests and the American people and speaks volumes about John McCain and the power-brokers who are pulling his strings.

Voters who are enamored with Palin's media-spun Sweetheart of the Klondike style may not come to their senses soon enough. With just over seven weeks before Election Day, it's too late for subtlety.

If Obama's real message to voters is that Palin represents a risk that America can ill afford to take, he's got to sledge-hammer home that point. All the media spending in the world can't compensate for a candidate whose message is muddied by the self-defeating nicety of nuance.

It's been said that Obama doesn't want to come off as an "angry black man." But that view itself is an exercise in reverse racism. There's no time now for laying the message between the lines. Obama's got to come out and say in his advertising what most thinking people believe:

The nomination of Sarah Palin for vice president threatens the safety and well-being of America and its people and displays recklessness and irresponsibility on the part of John McCain and the GOP.

If the Obama camp continues to soft-peddle that message, they will lose. Indeed, even with a more strident media message, it still may be too late for it to stick.

Perhaps the only thing that can improve Obama's waning prospects at this late hour is a "Hail Mary" play of his own:

Ask Joe Biden to withdraw from the ticket, either for reasons of his health or for the good of the party, and replace him with the candidate who can once again put the Dems out in front: Hillary Clinton.

Biden's a shrewd politician as well as a party loyalist. He must know he'd be better off as a noble kingmaker than as a three-time loser in presidential politics.  By bowing out gracefully, he could inoculate himself in the event of a Democratic defeat, and reserve himself an appointment as secretary of state, or as a Supreme Court justice, should the Dems emerge victorious.

It wouldn't surprise me if Bill Clinton suggested a VP lateral play during his lunch session with Obama on Thursday. If Obama is smart, he won't say no to Hillary this time.

Sticking to the same game plan that worked for Obama in the primaries won't cut it in the general election. He's dealing with a broader electorate now, not to mention a media-spawned superwoman. And hoping that the slickly-packaged Palin will implode could be an exercise in wishful thinking at this late juncture.

Obama's carefully crafted strategy has been up-ended by a true game-changer. Now it's time for Barack to reclaim the game with his own stunner:

A "Hail Hillary" play, the only viable option left in his fourth-quarter playbook.

TO: Mssrs. CHERTOFF, MUKASEY, PAULSON, GATES, McCONNELL, MUELLER

"GOV'T AGENCIES SUPPORT DOMESTIC TERRORISM"
http://www.nowpublic.com/world/government-agencies-support-domestic-torture-and-gang-stalking-says-noted-nowpublic-com-columnist

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