Kathryn Jean Lopez, for whom I have a great deal of respect and affinity, unloaded this ridiculous piece of spin last night:
"Kathleen Parker might have just saved the McCain campaign."
... So let me get this straight. If Palin had done poorly, the quote would have been: "Kathleen Parker was right." But because Palin did well, it's also because of Kathleen Parker???
By the way, I agreed with the argument that the McCain campaign failed Palin by botching her media roll-out. I agreed with Bill Kristol and Byron York on that point. And it is entirely possible that the "Let Palin be Palin" movement did help Palin last night.
But what Parker said was entirely different. Here's what she wrote:
"Only Palin can save McCain, her party and the country she loves. She can bow out for personal reasons, perhaps because she wants to spend more time with her newborn. No one would criticize a mother who puts her family first.
Do it for your country."
It is ridiculous spin to give Parker any credit for helping Palin. Instead, she allowed liberals to beat up Palin -- and still say, "even conservatives are calling for her to step down ..."
Instead of praising Parker this morning, we should all be noting how Parker -- a supposedly serious political analyst -- was dead-wrong about Palin's abilities.
She should have her pundit's license revoked -- not for philosophical reasons -- but because she was so provably wrong on what might be considered a "legacy" column. Note: Had Parker simply waited until after Palin's first debate to indict her candidacy, I think a lot of people would have gone easier on her. Of course, she wouldn't have written the same column, either...
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