John McCain is trailing in the polls with nine days left. To get back in the race he needs to dominate as many news cycles as possible. Looking ahead, Obama will be on three broadcast networks during prime time later in the week, probably denying McCain at least one additional day to gain ground. Today might have been McCain’s best chance for a positive day, appearing on both Meet the Press and CNN’s Late Edition. I already commented on these interviews here, with McCain failing to say anything to help his campaign. Making matters worse, the next big story after Palin’s spending on clothes has become the internal friction within the campaign.
Being a maverick is one thing, but going rogue is entirely different. It doesn’t help McCain to have quotes like this coming out from the campaign:
“She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone,” said this McCain adviser. “She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else.
“Also, she is playing for her own future and sees herself as the next leader of the party. Remember: Divas trust only unto themselves, as they see themselves as the beginning and end of all wisdom.”
If other women respond to this like Campbell Brown did on Late Edition today, the comment might further hurt McCain’s chances with the PUMA vote. Brown was offended by the use of the word diva:
Well, it’s the word “diva.” It’s a word that is never applied to men. It’s generally applied to a woman to describe an overly ambitious woman. And there may be many things you can say about Sarah Palin regarding her qualifications or experience, but she’s no more ambitious than any other politician, certainly not Joe Biden or any other vice presidential candidate in history.
So, I think going to that level and using that word in particular says more about the person on the McCain campaign who used it and the way this is devolved into sort of low-level name-calling than it does anything about Sarah Palin.
Such conflict, especially in losing campaigns, is not uncommon. Stories spread after the election how John Edwards placed his own interests in a 2008 run over the good of the 2004 ticket, but Kerry’s frustration with Edwards was kept quiet until after the vote to avoid further harming their chances.
Like the silly stories I mentioned yesterday on the faked attack and McCain’s brother, the friction between McCain and Palin is not something to base one’s vote on, but having the news be dominated by such stories does make it more difficult for McCain to catch up to Obama. I’m also not sure that having this come out now helps Palin’s already questionable hopes for the nomination in 2012.
