Not so fast.
Unlike her infamous “refudiate” twitter malapropism, dropping the blood libel bomb was not evidence of her insincerity or stupidity.
Crib notes her hand, crosshairs on map; these are evidence of a lack of sensitivity and IQ points.
Failing to cite a single new source when asked by Katie Couric- that aggressive investigative reporter known for her exposes on Martha Stewart holiday decorations; that was stupid.
Referring to Joe Biden as Senator “O’biden” during a vice presidential debate, before asking, “Can I just call you Joe?” dumber than a bag of hammers.
Pardoning a Turkey in front of a slaughterhouse, while an employee of the slaughterhouse was sending a turkey through the grinder; what else can one say but stupid is as stupid does.
Bloodlibelgate, however, is something altogether different.
Remember, this is a woman with a staff of writers. She was not speaking extemporaneously. Her speech, timed with an eye towards inserting herself in the meme that will dominate several news cycles, could have taken the high road. Instead, the woman who placed crosshairs on the congressional district of that Jewish Congresswoman who was the target of a political assassination attempt managed to portray herself as a martyr.
Why?
Howard Finnaman’s telling article on Huffington Post entitled “With ‘Blood Libel’, The 2012 Campaign has begun” offers some clues to Palin calculus.
The article quotes the words of a top advisor to another likely 2012 Presidential candidate, who says "Even though she had a terrible 2010 in terms of her national standing, she's still very popular with self-identified Republicans in states such as Iowa and South Carolina. It's the opposite of Rudy Giuliani in 2008. He had great national numbers but lousy Republican ones."
We live in a country where we think that 300 million of us weigh in equally in selecting our president. In campaign seasons, however, momentum and an air of inevitability are everything. Before the Republican primaries in 2008, Giuliani seemed like the man to beat, but only of you were looking at national polls.
Sarah Palin knows she does not have to win the hearts and minds of everyone; she knows full well that she need only stay front and center in the national news and win the hearts and minds of self identifying Republicans in early primary voting states like Iowa and South Carolina. Carry those states, her anti-Semitic strategists must be thinking, and ride that wave of momentum and inevitability all the way to the Republican nomination.
That is why, even though Sarah removed the map on her website that had the crosshairs on the congressional districts of her “targets”, Sarah Palin did not retreat; she chose instead to reload.