The Washington Post's Palin/Biden contrast is also reliably stark. This Saturday's headline: "McCain Picks Alaska Governor; Palin First Woman on GOP Ticket: Democrats Insist Running Mate Lacks Experience."
Last Saturday's headline was all what Democrats preferred: "Obama Calls His Pick, Biden, Both a Statesman and Fighter." (No subhead for what Republicans said.)
The captions under the pictures? For Palin: "Sen. John McCain said Sarah Palin, a conservative with strong antiabortion views, could best help him 'shake up Washington.'"
For Biden: "Barack and Michelle Obama, along with Jill and Joseph Biden, on the steps of the old statehouse in Springfield."
Labels in the front-page copy? Once again, for Palin: "The self-described 'hockey mom' brings a blue-collar conservatism and strong antiabortion views to the ticket and appeals to a party base somewhat suspicious of McCain."
But not for Biden: He "brought an infusion of experience and aggressiveness to the Democratic ticket....Biden, 65, a sharp-witted and energetic foreign policy expert who has held two of the most critical Senate chairmanships, bounded out onto the stage just after 2 p.m. Central time."
The pictures were roughly the same size, but if you wanted to get picky, the Obamas-and-Bidens picture was nicely posed. The Palin fist-pump shot is nice of her, but also includes McCain in the background with a forced-looking half-smile.
