McCain Interupts the Coronation with His Choice of VP

In an earlier post I mentioned that this Presidential race was Barack Obama’s to lose. One of the reasons why is because the mainstream media has already voted. In addition to the campaign effort that the Democrats have to pay for, virtually the entire media throws in their front pages and their nightly lead stories for free. Obama has gotten an unprecedented free ride and sympathetic slant in every news story.

But the tactic is not just what they say, it is also about what they don't say. Just as effective as their support for Obama has been the black-out of positive stories for McCain and his campaign. It is frightening to talk to someone who only absorbs their information from the main-stream media. They can only understand what they have been fed and they remain ignorant to much of reality from which they have been shielded.

It is sobering when you understand the reality of what is being done to us by the mainstream media. The enemies of truth are using it against us every day in an attempt to control our lives. So, you have to hand it to John McCain and his selection of his running mate. It has stunned the Democrats and their media. It shows a great strategy. When the enemy owns the radar, then you just have to fly under it.

How effective has McCain’s choice been? It appears to have virtually neutralized their much anticipated post-convention bounce. It has caused considerable confusion among Democratic strategists on how to handle her. Joe Trippi, a CBS News Political Consultant (euphemism for Democratic Strategist) said this on the CBS News webpage:

The McCain/Palin duo will challenge Barack Obama’s claim of “a new kind of politics” and chastise Obama and Democratic vice presidential Nominee, Joe Biden, for their “silence” in taking on corruption in their own party in Illinois, Delaware and Washington, DC.

The McCain campaign intends to claim that “more of the same” in Washington means Barack Obama and Joe Biden and will make the argument that if you want to “shake things up” then McCain and his reform minded running mate from Alaska will get the job done.

My initial reaction was that in picking Palin, McCain had taken away the argument that Barack Obama wasn’t ready to be president. I now think my initial assessment on that score was wrong. Over time, the McCain team will insinuate that if you think a first-term Governor isn’t ready for the number 2 slot, are you really sure that a first-term Senator is ready for the number 1 spot?

Mr. Trippi was a Howard Dean strategist at one time. His alarm and acknowledgement of how the choice of Sarah Palin changes the race is incredible in its juxtaposition of earlier thoughts on her.

The other shocker is that suddenly the media coverage has shifted. Suddenly the Democrats cannot control their press as reporters clamor to find out more about this exciting new VP candidate. The nation's attention is on McCain and Palin. What was once a coronation is now a full fledged race.