Mike Murphy ignores GOP incompetence, self-defeating behavior (Sarah Palin)

GOP consultant and former John McCain advisor Mike Murphy offers "To go forward, GOP must snap out of its Sarah Palin spell" (link). While his bad advice this time isn't as bad as his horrible immigration advice, he's still on the wrong side:

Unfortunately for McCain, the actual swing voters, the independents who do determine the winner of the election, didn't buy into this fantasy at all. After a three-week sniff, most couldn't run away from Palin fast enough.

He certainly has access to more polling data than I'll ever have, but what he completely fails to note is just how incompetent and bent on self-destruction the GOP was. Shortly after Palin was selected, the smears against her began.

She was selected on August 27, and then, just as a couple examples, the Washington Post smeared her on September 2, the Associated Press the next day, and Charlie Gibson on the 11th (last two here). The self-defeating incompetents - starting at McCain and including Murphy - did very little if anything to counter-act the smears. McCain postured against the New York Times when the biggest spreader of smears were Washington Post reporters; the McCain campaign said nothing that I recall about them. In fact, I probably did more to fight back against the Paul Kane smear than the entire GOP establishment. Me.

Thu, 07/09/2009 - 11:17 · · Importance: 4