Developing Narrative

Almost immediately upon her nomination Sarah Palin was cast as the rising star of the GOP. She energized the base, energized McCain, and provided reason for hope among conservatives of possibly retaining control of the White House. The worry for the Democrats, it was said, was falling into the trap of running against Palin instead of running against McCain.

But there's a narrative out there developing about who, exactly, the voters are interested. For the second time in the last two days attendees at a McCain-Palin rally have left after Palin spoke, opting not to listen to McCain. This was covered last night on CNN and if it's talked about again I think the McCain campaign may have some issues.

Simply put, Palin is becoming the de facto Republican candidate for the White House. And this is not good for the GOP. As much as Palin is propping up McCain when it comes to the base and their enthusiasm, McCain is the counterbalance to her inexperience in pretty much everything. They can't survive without one another in this election -- hence all the joint rallies -- but more importantly they can only survive in their current roles. A Palin-McCain ticket is even more prepoterous than a McCain-Palin ticket and it could be leathal to their election if that order starts to blur. Which is what the voters are signaling each time they walk out before hearing McCain speak and is what the media is signaling, albeit in a different way (so perhaps reinforcing is a better term), each night they focus on Palin-as-rising-star instead of Palin-as-VP.

Thursday, September 18, 2008