It’s been four years since Barack Obama beat John McCain to become the 44th President of the United States, but that hasn’t stopped some in the media from putting McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin, in the crosshairs. In this morning’s broadcast of Good Morning America, ABC News’ David Muir detailed the dynamics related to the home stretch of the presidential campaign. It was here that he snuck in a gratuitous swipe at Gov. Palin:
DAVID MUIR: But so much of it rests with the candidate. The HBO film "Game Change," strategist Nicolle Wallace is depicted trying to help Sarah Palin prepare for interviews in a debate on the national stage.
JULIANNE MOORE (as Sarah Palin): It wasn't my fault. I wasn't properly prepped!
SARAH PAULSON (as Nicolle Wallace): You weren't properly prepped because you wouldn't listen to us. You never listened to your advisers!
MUIR: Takes you back, doesn't it? A lot at stake this time. President Obama looking to lock in his lead. And for Romney, many political strategists arguing this first debate will be make-or-break as George pointed out given the poll numbers in those key battlegrounds. George
What’s so egregious about this frivolous example is that it’s based on an adapted screenplay. Furthermore, that clip featured in the segment is fictional. Yes, Sarah Palin didn’t have the best interview with Katie Couric, but what Wallace and Palin said to each other in private remains that way. The only folks who know what was said were those two women and Wallace had every reason to embellish the exchange to make herself look good.
The real Nicolle Wallace was then brought in to talk about the upcoming debates, which was a nice spring board for both Stephanopoulos and Wallace to rip into Mitt Romney:
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: You talk about President Obama as nicer and less arrogant. He does get irritable in the debates, and that's what his team is prepping him for, they want him to stay kind of patient.
NICOLE WALLACE: Right. Right. And just think about that for a second. They're asking both men to be someone they're not, and that's what makes the debate so dramatic. Because, really what we're all waiting for, what we're all watching for is the moment when the real man breaks out.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But more pressure on Mitt Romney in this debate. If you could say, what his number one goal for this debate, it is?
WALLACE: Romney needs to have a moment like we saw this week, when Bill Clinton introduced him, and he had this self-deprecating, humorous, normal moment where his humanity shown through. He needs try to do the impossible. He needs to orchestrate a moment where he can create that in a way that seems and feels spontaneous and natural. Near impossible.
STEPHANOPOULOS: That's very hard. Nicolle Wallace, thank you very much.
So let's review: We have a former Clinton operative drooling over the president and labeling him as “nicer and less arrogant,” while a squishy Republican -- who was a major source in a campaign book and later movie that cast Palin in a harsh light -- agrees and says Romney needs to be more human in these debates.
It's just more evidence that some in the Obama-friendly broadcast media are already crafting the narrative that the debates are lost and Obama has the election in the bag.
