On Friday's Situation Room, CNN's Jack Cafferty asked, "Is Sarah Palin's 15 minutes of fame over?" As you can see, Jack seems very anxious for Palin to become a has been of little consequence in this election:
Funny how a stock market crash, the failure of a few big investment banks will distract Americans from the flavor of the day. There doesn't seem to be the burning interest in who makes Sarah Palin's glasses that there was a few days ago. Former White House advisor and Republican strategist Karl Rove told the Associated Press this week that the Palin phenomenon will fade between now and the election, and that may be already happening [transcript continues below the fold].
Suddenly, following the big bounce Sarah Palin and John McCain got coming out of their convention, Barack Obama's once again moving ahead in the national polls. Obama's a heavy favorite when it comes to handling the economy. And the crisis in the nation's financial system may have helped him politically.
Plus, Sarah Palin has said she will refuse to cooperate in the investigation into her firing of Alaska's public safety commissioner. She has said some awkward things during interviews and campaign appearances. And a recent CBS News poll shows only 42 percent of Americans think Sarah Palin's prepared to be vice-president.
So here's the question: Is Sarah Palin's 15 minutes of fame over? Go to cnn.com/cafferty file. You can post a comment on my blog - Wolf.
The Situation Room returned to Jack later and here are some of the comments Cafferty read on the air:
Wendy in Virginia writes, "Sarah Palin's 15 minutes of fame totally over. It was a moment of fascination because people were curious about who she was, and they really wanted her to be a new Hillary Clinton, except she is not. She is a beauty queen who has no credentials and no understanding of what the country needs."
Dave in British Columbia, "Sarah Palin is a metaphor for all that is wrong with America. Somewhere in our lifetime the packaging and pretty ribbons became more important than content and it is true when it comes to buying a book or seeing a movie or good meal or buying food at the local supermarket, and until this changes, America will remain in trouble."Linda writes, "Sarah Palin's star is fading fast. She went from a phenom to a Saturday Night Live joke and now is just another lying politician. She said she was an open book about the Troopergate issue, but now the cat has her tongue. On November 5th, republicans will be jumping on the bandwagon saying that McCain could have won the White House if it wasn't for Sarah Palin, her husband and her controversial issues. Put lipstick on that."
Although Cafferty heavily weights the responses in favor of the Palin bashing liberals, there was also this:
Tyson writes, "Sarah Palin's 15 minutes of fame absolutely not over. Having her on the republican ticket is huge. John McCain was very smart when he decided to choose her as his running mate. She is a Washington outsider unlike her counter part, Senator Biden, and Sarah with more executive experience than Senator Obama and Senator Biden combined."
Well, it turned out that Tyson had the most accurate comment of them all as evidenced by this Fort Myers News Press headline which was also featured in the Drudge Report: "Palin Draws Crowd of 60,000 in The Villages." The report itself runs sharply counter to Snarlin' Jack's fantasy about her 15 minutes of fame being over:
"Sa-Rah! Sa-Rah!" they chanted at every mention of her name, applauding loudly and waiving tiny American flags that were distributed -- along with free water bottles -- by local volunteers. The fire chief estimated the crowd at 60,000.
Admiring throngs mobbed the Palin family's arrival and departure, snapping souvenir pictures. Autograph seekers thrust campaign signs, caps with the McCain-Palin logo and copies of magazines with her face on their covers, and the Palins responded warmly.
And how large of a crowd did Joe Biden attract this weekend, Jack? 6000? 600? 60? Do tell, Jack, and please let us know if Joe's 15 minutes of fame are over.
