Scary Spice joins fray

I like to think there are lots of Republicans whose idea of the perfect ticket is Jerry Ford and Bob Dole (which it was in '76). There are certainly a few who’ve come out squarely for Barack Obama, like President Eisenhower’s granddaughter, a speaker at the Democratic Convention. Maybe a few more of that type will emerge, unhappy with the 2008 GOP ticket, which seems like one half of an edition of the reality show “Wife Swap.” Most of America, I’m sure, would tune into to see the other end of that episode: Cindy McCain hanging out with Todd Palin up in Wasilla. Certainly so far, the ratings for this drama have been very good. Polls have revealed a significant shift amongst white women in favor of the Republican ticket. That was the first of two interesting items of Palin-related news that emerged yesterday (well three if you count the revelation that the Alaska governor has claimed travel expenses while at home).

Nobody can seriously argue that McCain’s choice wasn’t reckless and irresponsible, not least because this so-called “maverick” (I haven’t seen anybody point out yet that mavericks generally aren’t leaders) has sold his soul to the most reactionary wing of his party. If he’s elected, he'll owe them.

Now the duo’s handlers are using the Richard Nixon playbook by having as little unscripted interaction with the media as is possible. Nixon –- who was one of most intelligent men to occupy the White House and also, at least in the view of many, a paranoiac thug -- refused to have regular press conferences, which had been the practice over the previous 40 years.

Openness, of course, and talk about the freedom of the press, is essentially “elitist.” Have you noticed that elitists in this version of reality don’t live in gated communities; they don’t own seven houses, or sail in yachts, or fly private airplanes? Most of them don’t even come from millionaire families. No. Rather they’re the type that brood about people’s rights, and read books, some of which have bad words, and maybe shouldn’t be in libraries, whatever about bookstores. They’re elitist because they want to impose their egalitarian notions upon all of us. A couple of decades ago, one of those weirdly egalitarian and elitist ideas was the notion of the “career woman” who could “have it all.”

If there is a “genius” to McCain’s pick, it's its tapping into the resentments of the moment, particularly of those who are neither rich nor poor. That’s always a good place to begin any counterrevolution, and Gov. Palin may well be the perfect counterrevolutionary to oppose Obama’s revolution of hope.

The other important piece of news yesterday was the endorsement of Senator Obama by former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, who backed George W. Bush’s reelection bid in 2004. Koch called Palin “scary.” Koch’s position, it's believed, might boost the Democratic candidate’s hopes in two swing states where Jewish voters can make a difference – Pennsylvania and Florida. But does Palin scare only Jews? What about the mainline Protestant and Catholics who would regard the thought of creationism being taught in our schools with horror?