YOU KNOW YOU'VE BIFFED WHEN THE CANDIDATE HAS TO DO THE DAMAGE CONTROL HIMSELF:

Obama Distances Self From Campaign Spox Attack on Palin (Jake Tapper, August 29, 2008, ABC News: Political Punch)

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., was just now asked about the conflicting statements from his campaign on Sen. John McCain's, R-Ariz., pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate -- first, an attack by a spokesman, then a congratulatory statement by Obama and running mate Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del.

"I think that, you know, campaigns start getting these hair triggers," Obama said at Pennsylvania Biodiesel Inc. in Monaca, Pa.

Obama Campaign Attacks, And Backtracks, on Palin (Elizabeth Holmes, 8/29/08, WSJ: Washington Wire)

Even before John McCain and Sarah Palin took the stage to make the Republican presidential ticket official, Barack Obama’s campaign slammed the choice of the young Alaska governor.

“Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency,” Bill Burton, Obama campaign spokesman said in a statement that hit reporters inboxes at 11:47 a.m. EDT. [...]

[T]he damage was done. The McCain campaign was taken aback by the punch thrown by Obama’s staff. The night before McCain aired an ad congratulating Obama on becoming his party’s nominee. “It is pretty audacious for the Obama campaign to say that Governor Palin is not qualified to be vice president,” said McCain Communications Director Jill Hazelbaker. “She has a record of accomplishment that Senator Obama simply cannot match….Senator Obama has spent his time in office running for President.”

The Democrats spent the rest of the day dialing back and offering kind words instead of criticism.

The Palin Gamble (Tim Fernholz | August 29, 2008, American Prospect)

John McCain's selection of Sarah Palin is a gimmick, a desperation pick. It's a last-ditch attempt for McCain to be a maverick again and recapture his reformist credentials. Despite her image, Palin has ethics problems of her own, and she and McCain share George W. Bush's conservative politics. Worst of all, though, her lack of experience raises serious concerns about her basic fitness for office, and McCain's willingness to put his campaign before the good of the country.

Palin does bring a few advantages to McCain's campaign. She reinforces McCain's standing with his conservative base.

All they left out is that she's an uppity bitch who doesn't know her place and only the Stupids would vote for a young woman governor.

Posted by Orrin Judd at August 29, 2008 4:51 PM