Palin

Say what you want about Karl Rove.....I'll probably agree with you. I personally think that the guy has a huge chip on his shoulder. I don't think he cares at all about the future or people of the United States. Politics for him is a combination of chess and ultimate fighting. A game. And one at which he is undeniably a genius.

Sarah Palin. Why? Why would John McCain choose such a green running mate with such duffel baggage?

The simple answer is Karl Rove told him to.

Karl Rove is a master of political jiu jitsu.

In 2004, John Kerry's campaign focused on his service during Vietnam as his strength against George W. Bush, who more or less deserted from the Air National Guard. In response, Rove masterfully turned Kerry's strength into a weakness. Rove helped organize the devastating Swiftboat Veterans for errrr 'Truth' ads that collected dozens of veterans to refute the stories of Kerry's bravery, the ones for which he received a Silver Star and Purple Hearts. These men didn't even serve on Kerry's boat or close to him, but were somehow able to recall that Kerry had lied about his chivalry, that the stories of his bravery were a sham. Even though the men whom served on Kerry's swiftboat corroborated all of his stories (even the Republicans), the American public bought the former story and ignored the latter. Rove was able to organize a media frenzy that spent months questioning Kerry's stories of valor. As a result, Kerry could no longer focus on health care, education - issues that could have actually helped the country. The rest is history. Kerry loses and we were stuck with George W. Disaster for 4 more years.

4 years later, Rove is up to his old tricks. The strategy hasn't changed.

Barack Obama is an intelligent, thoughtful, poised, educated, worldly, and honorable guy. But none of this matters. The reason he attained popularity so quickly is that he's a great speaker, people think he's cool, pretty, are intrigued by his name, and he's the first serious black presidential candidate in history. This combination of factors made him a great media story.

What strategy did Karl Rove use to combat this?

Sarah Palin.

Yes, Sarah Palin was a huge risk, a hail mary pass as so many have referred to her. But a hail mary pass from Joe Montana to Jerry Rice (cerca 1990s)-one that has a good chance of working. The jiu jitsu is that Palin is everything Obama is, but on the hardcore conservative end of the spectrum. She's a great speaker (if you're a conservative audience), she's young, she's attractive, she's extremely savvy, and most importantly, she has a great story. Americans are intrigued by Alaska and previously knew nothing about Sarah Palin. Add to this that she has 5 children and her husband is a dog sledding(or snow mobiling) champion and you have the makings of a media feeding frenzy. Never mind that she is under investigation for having fired the chief of police to settle a family affair or that her teenage daughter is 5 months pregnant or that her husband was a member of a political party that called for Alaska to cede from the union.

The Palin pick was also used to fire up conservatives. Sara is fire and brimstone and McCain is not. The evangelical base was not enamored by McCain's one time moderate credentials but they love Palin. And, Palin's sex alone peels away a minority of former Hillary backers, not to mention makes it so that she would be the first female vice president, meaning that Obama's election wouldn't be the only historical first to come out of the election. In spite of these counterbalances against Obama's strengths, Palin was still a risky pick. Rove knew then that the execution of the pick would be key....

If you're Karl Rove, you don't have much to prove? He got George W. Bush elected not once, but twice. Only a genius could do that. Now, he's having fun with us. He has undertaken one of his greatest jiu jitsu moves of all time, something that absolutely shouldn't work...And he's seeing if he can pull it off. It's as if he's lining up to kick the longest field goal of all time, preparing a dive that incorporates more flips and spins than has ever been achieved.

Upon picking Palin, the media immediately focused on the negatives and perplexities of the pick. Rove must have anticipated this. What did he do? He used it as an opportunity to attack Obama through 'defending' Sarah Palin. That is, he directed the full force of the conservative media to say that the Obama camp was spreading false rumors and attacking Palin's family, even though Obama and Biden had both said that Palin's family was hands off. The 'defense' as attack method worked and offset the attention on Palin's substantial baggage. It gave her enough time to tread water until she unleashed her secret weapon-she's a great speaker (to conservative audiences). From her convention speech on, the media forgot about her baggage and instead became enamored in her story. Score one for Karl Rove. A masterfully executed cuadruple lindy. The fanfair and popularity left Obama like helium from a baloon and suddenly the hottie from Alaska with the dog sledding husband took center stage. Since that point in time, the election has been all about Palin all the time. Never mind that health care in the U.S. is a disaster. Never mind that it costs a fortune to send a kid to college. Never mind that our trade debt is obscene. Never mind that the taxpayers were just forced to bail out badly behaving banks, lenders, and insurance companies to the tune of trillions of dollars. What's apparently important is the meanstreak hockey mom from Alaska (although I admit that before that what was important was the cool hip young black guy from Chicago).

The Palin jiu jitsu undoubtedly worked for a time. It knocked the Obama campaign off guard, but in the meantime, the U.S. banking crisis took center stage and Americans were forced back to reality. Now, it is unsure whether Palin will be able to carry McCain to victory as her pick was intended.

My prediction is that from this point on, Palin will be downplayed. The media seems to have lost some interest in her for the time being and the focus has shifted once again to her baggage. In short, Palin has served her purpose and is about to overstay her welcome in the limelight. The question now is what will be Rove's next move? Or, what will be the October surprise?

If McCain does win, though, and the oldest man ever to assume the presidency must relinquish his duties to the second in command, Rove's little game will put in charge of the most powerful country on the Earth a woman who was until quite recently mayor of a town of 6000 (in Alaska) and whose foreign policy experience consists of being able to see Alaska from her home. And this just because Rove needed a quick boost in the polls, not because he cared at all about Palin's ability to lead the country. Rove is no patriot. And despite McCain's amazing service to the country during Vietnam, I'm beggining to question any more whether he is.