Frank Rich on McCain's Pick
The main reason McCain knuckled under to the religious right by picking Palin is that he actually believes there’s a large army of embittered Hillary loyalists who will vote for a hard-line conservative simply because she’s a woman. That’s what happens when you listen to the TV news echo chamber. Not only is the whole premise ludicrous, but it is every bit as sexist as the crude joke McCain notoriously told about Janet Reno, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton.
That's pretty good, actually. The "TV news echo chamber" in particular, because it highlights the undue emphasis the news media give to the notion of division in the Democratic Party. And Rich demonstrates a deft touch to swiftly link the inherent sexism behind the Palin pick to the same brand of bad judgment that drove McCain to tell the beyond-the-pale joke about Chelsea Clinton, which any serious, professional politician--not to mention decent human being--would have known better than to indulge in. McCain's got kids, for crying out loud, yet he has not demonstrated appreciation for which topics are off limits in politics. That's because nothing has ever been off limits for John McCain. And watch for the Obama campaign to methodically highlight this aspect of the Straight Talk Express in coming weeks.
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