Hillary Needs To Go After Palin

Alright, so this much is already clear: Sarah Palin can be an effective rabble-rouser, ignite the base, and attack Barack Obama mercilessly (and falsely, but that's not a surprise for a Republican). What she also presents is a dilemma for the Democrats, who have to tread carefully lest Obama be accused of running a sexist campaign three months after being accused of running a sexist campaign (all the while trying to attract the Hillary PUMAs). Already a couple of bloggers are saying, in effect, that the Obama campaign in particular and the Democrats in general should simply pretend Sarah Palin does not exist, not criticize her in the least, and simply keep hammering away on John McCain.

I can see where they are coming from, but this a wrongheaded view. For one thing, this campaign, in the short term at least, is now about Sarah Palin. Ignoring her will simply make the Democrats look weak, and play into the GOP smear of Democrats being effete latte-drinking-Volvo-driving-European-vacation-taking pussies. For another, Sarah Palin is in many ways a more inviting target than McCain, because there's so much to go after her with: flip-flopping on the bridge to nowhere, her support for Creatonism, firing people - including librarians - for political reasons, her complete naivete and lack of knowledge on foreign policy, her position that abortions should be illegal even in the case of incest or rape, and so on. The point is, the Democrats can not let any of this slide. Palin is a terrible candidate for veep, and should be described as such.

All that said, neither Obama nor Biden can do this. They will be accused of elitism, sexism, and godknowswhatelse-ism. But you know who can do this?


Think about it. No one - at least none of the middle class white women that are so important in this election - is going to accuse Clinton of sexism. And Lord knows Clinton is brilliant in the attack-dog role. She can positively destroy Palin given the latter's ample vulnerabilities.

So go at it, Hill. This is the precise moment where you can show your true worth as a Democrat. You said you'd "work your heart out" for Obama. Show us.

UPDATE: Honestly, my brilliance is wasted on you guys. I really should be making money off of this. From a story titled "Obama Camp Turns to Clinton to Counter Palin" in the NYT today:

Senator Barack Obama will increasingly lean on prominent Democratic women to undercut Gov. Sarah Palin and Senator John McCain, dispatching Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton to Florida on Monday and bolstering his plan to deploy female surrogates to battleground states, Obama advisers said Thursday.

Mrs. Clinton’s campaign event in Florida, her first for Mr. Obama since the Democratic convention, will serve as a counterpoint to the searing attacks and fresh burst of energy that Ms. Palin injected into the race with her convention speech on Wednesday, Obama aides said.