[John K. Matyi] Are you still on the fence as to whether ABC is in the tube over Obama? Let me help you make up your mind. This came across from Google this morning in an article that looks like it is reporting the news, until you get past the first paragraph. Let me give you some examples of what then makes this NOT reporting, but the (biased) opinion of the author. [Emphasis is mine]

[In talking about Gov. Palin] "She mastered the words written by the Bush speechwriters and delivered them well. But what we didn't hear was what people talk to me about every day," Sebelius told reporters.

[They cannot allow? It belongs to me!] Obama's senior advisers say they cannot allow Palin to paint herself as the come-from-nowhere insurgent — a role that once belonged to Obama.

"For someone who makes the point that she's not from Washington, she looked very much like she'd fit in very well there when you see how she brings these attacks, they all felt very familiar to Americans who are used to this kind of thing from Washington," Axelrod said. [Second quote from Axelrod, Obama senior staff]

"I think she's got a compelling story, but I assume that she wants to be treated the same way that guys want to be treated, which means that their records are under scrutiny," Obama told reporters in York. "I've been through this for 19 months. She has been through it — what — four days so far?"

[Axelrod again] It was slightly more polite than Axelrod: "She tried to attack Senator Obama by saying he had no significant legislative achievements. Maybe that's what she was told."

[so where does it say 'and in my opinion'] The McCain campaign, keenly aware of the potential of their nontraditional pick, immediately used any criticism of Palin as a sign of sexism.

[John K. Matyi] So what is being said on the liberal blogs? I tried to find liberals complaining about the sexist treatment of Gov. Palin, but it was not there. I did find some Daily Kos liberals cautioning their base to slow down on the attacks, but only because they believed it would hurt Obama, not help him. This should really not surprise us as we need to remember all the vicious attacks against Hillary on the Daily Kos when she wouldn't bow out gracefully when they decided she wasn't liberal enough for them. We should not expect any support for the Governor just because she is a very successful, intelligent woman.

Democrats are reacting in a silly, kneejerk and generally ungracious way to Palin's selection and that's a mistake. It reads very poorly — it makes us look mean and spooked. We need to BACK OFF for a little bit and think up an actual strategy. My first thought is that they should capitalize on her praise of Hillary with a, "she's no Hillary Clinton" line-of-attack. Likewise, the Obama camp needs to smooth things over with Ferraro and get her on TV asap to talk about why Palin is bad for women. In a respectful way. Because I think that Palin is GREAT — I mean really, she seems like she is the best of the GOP. I disagree with her on just about every issue but she seems like the real deal — not a crony or a hack. Trying to smear her is gonna backfire big time.

We just need to be ready to capitalize on her inevitable mistakes. One thought about taking on political lightweights — they can't rebound from powerful, memorable attacks the way someone with gravitas and a record can. Maybe Dan Quayle provides a good model for us. We should be trying to shape the media narrative that she is unqualified and a lightweight. And then watch her, the way Lloyd Bentson's people did with Quayle, looking for vulnerable lines from her stump speeches or interviews that she uses a lot. And then just demolish her in the VP debate.

In other words — don't try to go for the "killing blow" this early in the game because that can backfire (including that we're dismissing her because she's a woman). Just try to shape her obvious weaknesses into a narrative and then do something that just takes her apart on camera in the debate and makes her a liability from then thru

A lot of people are picking up on this supposed State Trooper scandal, which is again, a BIG MISTAKE. A guy was abusing her sister and she tried to get him fired. Even if what she did was completely unethical, women everywhere are gonna be on her side. In fact by trying to capitalize on the scandal, you're just going to put the story out there. Not helpful. Democrats need to SLOW DOWN, take a deep breath and THINK about how to respond to Palin. She is a lot more dangerous than she seems at first glance. The conventional wisdom is that she's a lightweight and therefore a joke. But that's what people thought about Bush too. People
are going to LIKE Palin. The GOP is going to LOVE Palin. Hell, I like Palin a lot and I disagree with her on every issue there is. Think about her supposed weakness — she was the mayor of a town with 5000 people.

That's right — she was the mayor of a town with 5000 people. Norman Rockwell and Frank Capra are getting gay-married in heaven right now!  She is gonna go on interviews, and they are going to ask her about policy arcana, trying to highlight her lack of experience, and every other sentence she says is going to be, in a slightly apologetic tone, "Well I don't know a lot about [issue X — and neither do average voters] I haven't spent 20 years inside the beltway. What I do know is that Washington needs change — just not the kind that Barack Obama wants. Let me tell you a story... [Insert folksey, sweet Alaska story here.]"

She is built for TV. Americans are going to LOVE her. The Christian RIght is going to love her.

And the trick will be to wear away at her over time, slowly and steadily. With a smile and a light touch. At every opportunity every female Democrat need to be out there saying, I like Sarah Palin, I respect Sarah Palin but her ideas are wrong for America. Did you know that she wants the government to force women to carry a pregnancy to term, even in the case of rape and incest?" And so on. And they need to sort of conceed the "folksey, regular guy" battleground to Palin and let Biden be the huge wonk he is. He needs to pepper every conversation, speech, and interview with the names of all the foreign leaders he's met, the presidents he's advised, etc. "Oh, and by the way, I wrote the Violence Against Women Act." No mention of Palin, from him, Ever. Little by little, over time just wear down the sheen of Womaness and let her obvious lack of qualification come to the fore. Tread lightly, Democrats.

p.s. — this would be a great time to talk about the Supreme Court. I would talk a lot about the Ledbetter v. Goodyear case which allows them to talk about how conservatives treat women's issues without talking about abortion. He wants Justices like Alito and Roberts, so let's make Ledbetter a household name between now and November.

If you really want to know the strategy of the Obama camp and the Democratic party for the next 60 days, then I suggest you read "Alinsky's Rules for Radicals". Known as the "Father of Modern American Radicalism," Saul D. Alinsky (1909-1972) developed these strategies and tactics to focus the "emotional energy of grassroots groups and transform it into effective anti-government and anti-corporate activism". According to Jerome R. Corsi (The Obama Nation) this is the very same strategy that Obama has been using to further his political career from the early Chicago days all the way to the present presidential campaign.

As Alinski has advised:

RULE 12: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it." Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions.

So don't be surprised when they continue to attack our VP nomination of Gov. Sarah Palin by attacking Sarah, her family, her favorite foods, etc. From now on you know that whatever they attack in earnest, this is their week point and they know it.

I'm John K. Matyi and I approve this Op-Ed. Please add comments here.