Sarah Palin Draws Huge Crowds Despite Misogynous Assault from Obama Supporters and Their Media Allies

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and her family

When Sarah Palin set foot on the national stage about six weeks ago, the Obama campaign at first responded with derision. Then she gave her convention speech. They got the message. Here was a genuine threat to the ascendancy of Barack Obama. How dare this small town female upstart from Alaska compete with Obama in drawing huge crowds and raising millions of dollars?

It took a few days to gear up Obama’s netroots shock troops who had polished their skills in vulgar sexist assaults on Hillary Clinton. But soon they were up in arms, dead set on destroying this latest female daring to crack that glass ceiling. It didn’t take the national media long to get in sync with the netroots, and I held my breath as I wondered how long it would take for these misogynous forces to destroy the youthful Palin who lacked the experience and thick skin of a Hillary Clinton.

I’m a long-time liberal when it comes to most policy issues, but this second assault in one election year on a female candidate stirred up my sense of solidarity with another woman I sensed was in danger. How crude could Obama supporters get? Here’s an example posted at the Hillary Clinton Forum; it’s an email from Frank P., a Democrat for McCain:

‘“I was at a Sarah Palin event in Philadelphia, at the Park Hyatt Hotel - late Saturday afternoon (Oct. 11th). If you are easily grossed out by the ‘C’ word, I am sorry. But as Andrea says below, if McCain supporters wore a shirt that said ‘Obama is a ___’ or even ‘Obama is a ____’ or ‘Obama is a ____’ at an Obama Rally, they would either be thrown off the premises, have their heads kicked in, or even be detained at the local police station (I know this for a fact: I just had on a McCain button at a recent Obama event and I didn't think I was going to get out alive).

‘“Sorry the picture is not clearer. But these four young people were right in front of the hotel. They have on the nicest shirts. There were worse. There was group as well carrying around a fake dead fetus - exclaiming that ‘abortion should have been the path for Bristol(?) Palin.’ And quite a few smoke bombs, etc. etc.”’ Read more and see photo here.

But the misogynists haven’t won yet. True to form, Patrick Healy at the NY Times reports with a heavy dose of sarcasm this morning on a recent McCain-Palin campaign rally in Virginia Beach. Sarcasm aside, Healy is forced to admit:

“As the Republican vice-presidential nominee for six and a half weeks now, Ms. Palin has emerged as the most electrifying speechmaker among the four politicians on the major party tickets. She generates enormous fervor at her events; people sometimes do not stop clapping or shouting words of praise until Ms. Palin pauses.

According to Healy, the Virginia Beach rally drew 10,000 supporters, demonstrating that the hate-mongering assaults by the Obama campaign and its media allies have done little to dampen the enthusiasm of conservative Republicans for Sarah Palin. Could be the low-life tactics of the extreme left wing of the Democratic Party have even increased the intensity of Palin’s support from her base.