Thank You, Todd Purdum

I'm sure you have all heard about the blatantly dishonest 10,000 word hit piece that was written in Vanity Fair about Gov. Sarah Palin today. I won't link to such rubbish, but you can easily find said article on Real Clear Politics. It was written by Todd Purdum, who is the political correspondent for Vanity Fair Magazine. Which makes me wonder; who reads Vanity Fair for political coverage?

I don't want to go into too much detail here about the actual content of the article, as that has already been given thorough analysis by Bill Kristol, Jim Geraghty at National Review, and Tom Bevan at RCP.

What I feel is important about this is the motive behind these articles. Imagine if (supposedly) legitimate journalists wrote these types of articles, with this frequency, about Dan Quayle in June of 1993. I pick Dan Quayle because he somehow developed this reputation for not being a very bright guy. It should be noted, also, that Dan Quayle now runs a multi-billion dollar private equity firm. Hmmmm....

The reason there were no articles such as the one written by Mr. Purdum was due to the fact that Dan Quayle was never a terribly charismatic guy, and never had any kind of avenue to fight back against whatever was said about him. Even if he did, no one cared.

When Gov. Palin speaks, people listen, whether they agree with her politics or not. She gets media time whenever she wants it specifically for this reason. She has been fairly successful at using the media to her advantage, something that she was unable to do 8 months ago. During the verbal altercation with David Letterman, Palin used this opportunity to give two interviews on more liberal networks. She briefly addressed the Letterman issue, but made it clear that she was going to discuss policy; more specifically the natural gas pipeline she is working on in Alaska. This allows her to get her message to those who may not pay attention to her policy regularly, and it shows in the gains she is making with independents.

It seems that the governor has a unique ability to make attacks against her work in her favor. At this point, it is only a matter of how long it takes people like Todd Purdum to figure out that their totally factless and baseless attacks are helping her over time. Perhaps those elusive independents, now disenchanted with Obama, are thinking "Hey, why do they keep going after this woman, what is she actually all about..?"

So I say, "Thank You, Todd Purdum." Keep up the good work. I know you are so low on the food chain that even Bill Clinton called you a scumbag, but this country needs all the help it can get right now.