Countdown: Predicting the Palin Strategy

More days to the Palin-Biden Debate


As the time for Sarah Palin's political trial by fire looms closer I thought I would whip out my crystal ball and make some predictions about how she (actually her handlers) might play this.

The key factor in making these predictions is noting what the Telegraph (UK) article cited: that Palin is being prepped for this debate by the same neo-con crowd that developed the Bush strategy in the 2000 and 2004 elections (so much for saying that she and McCain are mavericks. This is business as usual.).

This neo-con crowd is desperate to keep their discredited ideology on the front burners. And now they think they've found a way to do it - by imprinting it on the blank slate which is Sarah Palin. Here's a woman who is clueless about foreign policy, yet desperate to prove she isn't. What better foil to keep the neo-con message alive.

Based on this I think we can expect several things:

• Palin will play the fear card that the neo-con's have played so effectively in past Bush campaigns. Get ready for something subtle that will attempt to stoke the paranoia surrounding Obama's African/Muslim roots. If not that, then something else which will make people question his patriotism.
• Related to this will be Palin's constant reminders that she, with her small town roots and "aw shucks" demeanor, is much more in tune with authentically patriotic American values than urban organizer, Barak Obama. She'll probably be wearing something that will remind people of the flag to underscore this point.
• The ill-advised statement Obama made about guns and religion will be repeated as many times as she can get it in for the same reason listed above. "He's not one of us," will be the underlying theme.
  
• There will be constant references to what the McCain team is claiming to be Obama's extreme liberalism. And somewhere along the line there will be a mention of Obama's neighborly friendship with unrepentant 60's radical , Bill Ayers. Another attempt to say "he's not one of us."
• Although her neo-con handlers may want her to do so, I have a feeling Palin will be hesitant to drop in a reference to the Rev. Jeremiah Wright mainly because she would prefer that her ties to another kind of radical Christianity stay out of the spotlight. But somehow she'll try to leave the impression that Obama is not a good Christian like her.
  

In reference to this last observation, check out this video filmed in Palin's former church when Palin was not only present, but came up to have hands laid upon her: