Palin To Blow Her One Advantage

Looks like Palin's speech is going to be standard Republican attack dog fare:

Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin directs a sharp jibe at Barack Obama in her speech to the Republican National Convention Wednesday night, according to excerpts released by the campaign.

Contrasting her resume with that of the Democratic presidential nominee, she says: "I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a 'community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities."

Here, watch me play Obama campaign for a second:

Judging by her record, Governor Palin's view of "responsibility" appears to be identical to George W. Bush and John McCain's: leaving the next generation laboring under a crushing load of debt.

Wow. She walked into that.

Anyway, aside from the fact that her record is just wide open to critique, I don't think going into slam-mode is a good move for Palin. All she has at this point is the perception of being "nice" -- indeed, the GOP's latest strategy to deal with all the negative press around her is to cast it as beating up on the poor, defenseless Palin. If she goes out and gives a standard attack-ad speech, the base will love it, but it will shred her last remaining advantage with swing voters. Former Rep. Connie Morella (D-MD) found this out the hard way in 2002 -- a politician who survived on unfriendly terrain by cultivating a reputation as "nice Connie" was left without a leg to stand on when she started going negative in her race against now-Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D). Likewise, when Palin goes up against Joe Biden or any other Democratic surrogate launching attacks against her, voters will remember that she's perfectly capable of dishing it out -- so she better know how to take it.