How the McCain Camp Hurt Palin, and How They Can Help

Perhaps I spent too many years reading Chuck Todd's analysis at The Hotline, but I try to explain pretty much everything that goes on in Washington through sports. The Sarah Palin saga is no different.

First let me say that I love Gov. Palin, believe she is a top shelf political talent, and that she did adequate last night. But she could have been better. And the McCain campaign is entirely to blame for her underperformance.

Palin is like a highly talented first round baseball draft pick. She is going to be great someday, but when McCain picked her in August, she was simply not ready to face major league pitching the very next day. This is not to say she would not be ready to be VP on January 20th. Just that she needed some practice.

And the McCain campaign should have been getting her that needed practice from day one. The major leagues have a farm system for a reason. To develop talent. From day one Palin should have been on Hannity, Hewitt, Rush, and Laura. Is this group going to challenge her in the same way Charlie Gibson will? No. But they would give Palin the opportunity to answer detailed policy questions in a friendly environment, to hone her skills at explaining her world view, and to grow comfortable in the media spotlight.

But the McCain camp did not choose this route. Instead the sequestered Sarah with top McCain advisers who crammed her with McCain-answers instead of letting her discover Palin-answers on her own. Major league teams don't build pitching staffs by calling up their best talent and then leaving them on the bench. They send them to organizations where they are given an opportunity to develop their natural talents, so that when they do play in the bigs, they will be that much better.

McCain still can pursue this strategy. Palin did fine last night, but she could have done better. She should be out talking to every friendly media outlet the McCain camp can find. This would both rally the troops and give Palin some needed practice.

Remember, its not like Obama didn't get the same treatment. The media absolutely adore him, and protected him fiercely early on. He is now a much better politician for it. Unfortunately conservatives do not have a deep bench of Gwen Ifill's in the MSM that are writing books about how awesome Sarah Palin is. Quite the opposite. The MSM hates her with a red hot passion.

So let's get Palin on Rush and Laura and Beck as quickly as possible. Her future, and ours, will be better for it.