Sarah Palin looked great last night, but the best bet is to short the stock. As Lawrence O’Donnell Jr. pointed out on Morning Joe, she proved that she could give a speech in a big hall, a skill which is now useless to her. She may well face an audience as admiring and enthusiastic, but if so, she will be wasting her time. She is going to asked to perform in front a national press corps that will be unforgiving, if only because they have to present her for a mere sixty days, as opposed to the months and years that all the other canidates had to refine their acts and create contexts for themselves in which their mistakes can be understood. Plus she’s not going to be doing this in isolation–the Democrats will be driving. It’s interesting, but I reviewed a political novel by Ralph Reed called Dark Horse in which he has a character, an underexperienced female vice presidential candidate who makes some mistakes and virtually disappears from the race. As far-fetched as that scenario is, I’d say the odds are better on that happening than on her becoming a game changer.
