It’s not that I take any glee in watching the media and the Left pound this woman. In fact, it is the savageness of their attacks that I am focused on. As they continue to rip into Mrs. Palin … have you noticed? … something ever so interesting is happening. Heretofore, the Republicans have been lukewarm about their candidate. Fundraising has been lackluster. This lack of enthusiasm has been the number-one factor that would have / could have put Obama in the White House. I know he can’t win on a straight up election -- self-professed liberals just don’t -- unless the Religious Right stays home or does some sort of Third Party thing. Clinton was the last liberal that got elected to the White House, not by a majority, but by a split vote. In those days running up to the election, no one was really sure he was a liberal anyway. He said he was moderate or progressive or some other label. The only way that I could see where Obama stood a chance of winning in this election was going to be the lack of interest and support from the Right for the Republican candidate. If the Right turned out in really low numbers, it seemed possible (if unlikely) for the Democrats to pull it out.

Then came Sarah Palin. She walked out onto that stage next to John McCain and the whole picture changed. Sarah Palin is real pleasant to look at, isn’t she? She’s a little eye-candy and that never hurt anyone with a public career. The Left, the Democrats and the other usual suspects went wild! They have been howling for blood ever since. They have been vicious and unfair and ugly beyond their own standards. The good news is that the Right has responded, and how they have responded! They have been circling the wagons around Sarah Palin in a major way. Suddenly, the whole “culture wars” thing is renewed with vigor. Even now, I can hear someone shouting “Amen” from the back.

I don’t envy Mrs. Palin the fiery furnace she is going to have to pass through, as the assaults on her keep coming in never-ending waves of rage. These assaults are against cultural values that are shared by her constituency, and the enthusiastic support that has been unleashed is phenomenal. The media attack-dogs are showing themselves for who we have known they are, and no one is making any pretense of unbiased balance. Their downward spiral will only continue.

Meanwhile, the Right-wing of the Republican Party is no longer staring out the window, wondering what they are going to do about their lack of appealing choices in the upcoming Presidential race. They are hot! Anyone listening to those nasty talk radio shows knows that the Defense of Sarah Palin, which is the defense of our traditional American values, has more passion and more vitality than we have seen in the McCain campaign so far.

The net result is amazing. John McCain is free to return to his comfort zone, talking about security and fiscal things. As the Left continues to attack Sarah Palin, they are not using their bully pulpit to gurgle their admiration of Obama. The Religious Right is back in the fray, with a compelling interest in the November election. My compliments and kudos to the campaign strategist who set this up!