Posted by
Mike Bates on Monday, January 11, 2010 9:05:47 PM
There's just something about Sarah. A morsel, any morsel, about
former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin that can possibly be used to belittle
her is rabidly devoured by many in the mainstream media. On his CNN
Newsroom segment today, anchor Rick Sanchez
highlighted
Palin's difficulty in keeping Joe Biden's name straight. Four
different times, he played the same video from last year's vice
presidential debate in which she referred to him as "O'Biden." Sanchez
played part of an interview with McCain campaign staffer Steve Schmidt,
who described Palin's error as "a verbal tic" that could prove
"devastating beyond words." Then:
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: How did you get around it?
SCHMIDT: Multiple people, and I wasn't one of them, all said at the same time, just say, "Can I call you Joe?" Which she did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Despite that precaution, look at what happened interestingly enough, during the debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PALIN: Barack Obama and Senator O'Biden, you have said no to
everything in trying to find a domestic solution to the energy crisis
that we're in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Hmm. "O'Biden." She said it.
The interview was based on "Game Change," that new book about the
2008 presidential campaign. The authors of that book say that many
McCain staffers were so worried about Palin's inexperience that they
became terrified about what would happen if their guy won and Palin
actually became vice president. . .
Sanchez's observation would have had more kick if not for the fact that the former Alaska governor already covered her use of "O'Biden" in her book published months ago. As quoted on National Review Online:
During rehearsals, I accidentally called Randy “Senator
O’Biden” — a slip of the tongue combination of Obama and Biden. The
blunder struck too often, even tripping up campaign staffers. (Jay Leno
later made the same slip on his new talk show, so we were in good
company.) We laughed about it but knew that if I said it even once
during the debate, it would be disastrous. Then somebody said, “You
ought to just call him Joe.” . . .
Slips of the tongue are routine with politicians. The late Senator Ted Kennedy famously called the current president "Osama Obama." VP candidate Biden introduced Obama as "Barack America." At the same event, Obama came dangerously close to hailing Biden as the next president of the United States. And then there was the CNN interview during which Obama referred to one of his daughters by the wrong name.
But
with Sanchez, it's Sarah's slip of the tongue that's still newsworthy
and qualifies for four replays in a single program. She's obviously
viewed as a threat, one that must be denigrated at every opportunity.