Obama '08?

To step back a bit:

I think Palin's a story. She's out of nowhere, she's unknown, and she's a target rich environment -- stuff keeps coming out. Digging is rewarded.

So the question becomes, what does Obama do about that?

I think hanging back and letting things self-destruct is about the best thing he can do. He cannot be the person who destroyed her. That will just rally people to her side. That goes not only for him but for his surrogates. It was pretty clear that Hillary Clinton was acting in accordance with the campaign when she neglected to tear into Palin when given a chance. She said no way, no how, no McCain-Palin and said some issue-based stuff -- but she was goaded into saying more and she didn't go there.

I think that's the right way to do it.

I remain frustrated with the media but am seeing signs that the pure chutzpah involved in the ongoing distortions from both McCain and Palin are exacting a price. That's good.

I think Obama might just keep doing his thing -- face-to-face campaigning, ground game, staying cool -- with occasional forays into "enough is enough"-type bemused exasperation, and occasional "McCain would rather lose his integrity than the election" broadsides from his campaign, until the first debate (September 26th). Then -- in a one-on-one appearance with MCCAIN (not Palin) -- show fire and aggression and poise that will come as a surprise to many viewers... and become a story, especially if he extracts a major gaffe or outburst from McCain.

The latest story making the rounds is that Palin's son (the one that's in the Army) was a "major" drug dealer is Wasilla. The "source" is a supposed anonymous high school student. That of course, got started from the National Enquirer headline that ran the other day about he's supposedly addicting to Oxy and coke - a story that the National Enquirer is already backtracking on.

Has there even been anything in the press in the last few days about what Biden is up to? Does anyone even know if he's still alive?

fishin wrote:

Has there even been anything in the press in the last few days about what Biden is up to? Does anyone even know if he's still alive?

I was wondering that too, but then I read this:

Where's Joe Biden: Everywhere That Matters

That point seems to be borne out by this Google News list of mostly local news stories about Joe and Jill Biden's campaign stops in Iowa.

And I don't buy his comment that Biden is "just busy doing things that the national press doesn't bother to cover.". The national press has abandoned him. http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/12/biden.palin/?iref=mpstoryview

He's got SIX reporters following him around on his plane. That's it! And according to that CNN article, he gave a 20+ minute response to a question on Iraq during one flight and yet, no story appeared in the press with that response (or any parts of it). The National press doesn't care about the Iraq war any more?

Too much press on Biden may be bad or embarrassing press for the Obama campaign. He is an accident waiting to happen, in terms of what he might say.

He is cocky, and just pretty much a loudmouth, and that is not what I would vote for.

What price is that? Moving ahead in the polls isn't exactly a "price" in that sense, is it?

For a candidate who prides himself in "straight talk" -- and whose political image in part is based on that truth-telling reputation -- Saturday proved to be a brutal day for John McCain and his campaign.

[...various examples of various news organizations calling out McCain on various distortions...]

To top it off, McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said this to the Politico about the increased media scrutiny of the campaign's factual claims: "We’re running a campaign to win. And we’re not too concerned about what the media filter tries to say about it.”

Not surprisingly, the Obama camp has pounced on all this, issuing a memo to reporters entitled "Unraveling the myth of the Straight Talk Express." The memo argues, "Since naming Governor Palin as their vice presidential nominee, the McCain campaign has distorted, distracted, and outright lied to the American people about her record in a desperate attempt to hide the fact that a McCain/Palin Administration would be nothing more than a continuation of the failed Bush policies of the last eight years."

And it concludes, "While the media is slowly starting to call the McCain campaign on their dishonest tactics, McCain’s staff boasts that they don’t care. As a McCain spokesman told the Politico, 'We’re running a campaign to win. And we’re not too concerned about what the media filter tries to say about it.'"