"What is wrong with these people?" was the nigh-upon-universal reaction
among conservatives at the GOP convention this week. Liberal reporters
inquired of conservative journalists, Republican delegates, right-leaning
janitors, free-market short-order cooks, even the guys walking around in
elephant suits: Will Sarah Palin drop out? What about the Eagleton Option?
For those who don't know, the Eagleton Option refers to Thomas Eagleton,
George McGovern's first VP pick in 1972, who was forced to withdraw because
allegations of mental illness.
A hybrid of myth and deceit peddled by the chattering bandersnatches of the
Democratic Party's backup communications offices at MSNBC and other
press-release transmission belts of the Obama campaign, the whole
pseudo-story was surely the brightest flare in the bonfire of asininity in
St. Paul this week.
Of course, it was hardly the only journalistic will-o'-the-wisp unleashed
from the media bog. The claim that Palin was a Buchananite - and hence an
acolyte of a "Nazi sympathizer" according to Florida Rep. Robert Wexler -
was not true. The claims she cut funding for pregnant teens, that she was a
member of the more-goofy-than-scary Alaska Independence Party, that Trig
Palin - her special-needs baby - was really her daughter's: these were all
bogus. As for the even more disgusting smears peddled at the Daily Kos and
one blogger at The Atlantic - smears that drove much of the prurient
investigation into the Palin family's privacy by more reputable sources -
they were as untrue as they were repugnant.
But it was the Eagleton canard that spoke volumes. First, just as a matter
of reportorial fact, as opposed to Keith Olbermann clicking his ruby-red
slippers and wishing it were so, the idea that the rank and file of the GOP
wanted her gone before her speech was distilled nonsense. Now, it's plain
hilarious.
In the wake of Palin's performance Wednesday night, there's vastly more
support among conservatives for flipping the McCain-Palin ticket to the
Palin-McCain ticket. Send McCain to attend the funerals and cut the ribbons!
Put the lipsticked pit bull at the lead of the Alaskanized GOP sled!
One good barometer of conservative support: Rush Limbaugh, who is rumored to
kick his cat across the room in rage when he hears the name "McCain," now
calls the Arizona senator "John McGenius."
For good or ill, going forward, Palin is easily the most popular Republican
in the country, at least among people inclined to vote for the GOP. That may
not last, of course (she has many trials ahead), but the instant decision of
Beltway blowhards to push the Palin-as-liability fable says a lot about how
little they understand much of the American electorate.
One partial explanation for the feeding frenzy is the bowel-stewing fear
among an Obamaphilic press corps that Palin might actually help McCain win.
But another part of the answer is that the press was simply surprised.
Cockroaches scatter when shocked by a flipped light switch. Grizzly bears
attack when startled. And when caught napping by big news, the press corps
floods the zone. Editors scream at underlings who missed the story. Networks
fret they'll be scooped. And all of a sudden, the norms and standards become
a blur in the race to be first. In the case of Palin, the press vaulted over
every principle and standard they'd established about what is and isn't fair
game, like O.J. Simpson leaping over luggage in the old Hertz commercials.
It required the Jaws of Life to pry news of John Edwards' affair out the
mainstream press. But when it came to the personal drama of Palin's 17-year
old daughter, the press clawed for morsels like they were golden tickets
from Wonka Bars.
They wouldn't have done the same thing if Palin were an unknown Democrat,
because the press' reflex is to assume the worst of Republicans.
The Eagleton Option exposed the press' gut instincts, and the viscera are
not pretty. Eagleton dropped out because it was leaked that he'd received
shock therapy for ill-defined mental problems. Many of those who expected
Palin to withdraw see her values and her choices as proof of a mental
problem. "She's more a conservative man than she is a woman on women's
issues," quoth a spokeswoman from the predictably shrill National
Organization for Women, which always defines womanhood by a woman's
commitment to left-wing feminist dogma. If you're pro-life, or even just a
Republican, you're not a real woman, you're suffering from some sort of
pernicious gender confusion.
How long before the Palin-haters insist she needs shock therapy, too? For
her own good, of course.