NORFOLK, Va. – It’s all about the bottom of the ticket.
In this second straight week of Palin-Palooza, fanned by the McCain campaign’s gender bender and a nation riveted by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s rapid ascent, the Obama campaign is now tightening its focus on the Republican vice presidential candidate. On Wednesday afternoon, Obama’s aides announced the formation of an “Alaska Mythbusters” rapid response team that promises to “set the record straight” about Palin. The mythbusters include former Alaska Gov. Tony Knowlesand Ketchikan Mayor Bob Weinstein— of “Bridge to Nowhere” fame.
On a media conference call, Knowles tore into Palin’s ethics, noting that the GOP-controlled legislature took the unusual step of investigating Palin on a “very serious charge” of whether she interfered with a case based on a “personal vendetta” to extract punishment against a citizen. (See “The Reform Candidate,” by TWI’s Laura McGann.) Then Weinstein reiterated how Palin supported the Bridge to Nowhere, as numerous news outlets have reported — a history that Palin lied about again this week.
Riding on Obama’s traveling press bus through Virginia this afternoon, as reporters listened to a 30-minute call assailing Palin and traded lipstick jokes, there’s no denying that Palin remains the story.
Even if Obama shifts the focus from manufactured Palin controversies to legitimate questions about her record, she is still the center of attention. Despite speculation that Obama would frame the race as all about McCain, once the convention buzz died down, he has clearly decided Palin must be diminished before she can be ignored.