Sun Tsu Cain and the Art of VP Debating

CT

At first I was not going to write this post, because quite frankly what I was thinking made no sense to me. Then thumbing through some old reading material I came across the Art of War, by mythical general, Sun Tsu. A particular quote jumped out at me, Sun Tsu speaking about strategic assessments, "A military operation involves deception. Even though you are competent, appear to be incompetent. Though effective, appear to be ineffective."

I have been puzzled by the shielding that Governor Palin has been receiving from the media by the McCain camp. After Dick Cheney was annouced as the Republican Vice President candidate he did five interviews in his first week. Palin has done three in about three weeks. Why? Was the Left correct about her being a boob and incompetent? Maybe they were right about her experience and intelligence level, this didn't make sense either.

This woman successfully ran against a very corrupt and somewhat powerful Republican establishment in Alaska and won. She managed a budget of some $11.7 billion and negotiated a very lucrative deal for a natural gas pipeline when no one else could. Bill Clinton has stated that he sees in her a great deal of "political intuition." Or maybe he just thinks she is hot, I dunno, it is Bubba we are talking about. Jokes aside, the evidence of her talent as well as her pragmatism and intelligence is there, she seemingly has it. Not to mention she scares the hell out of the Left.

I am only able to draw two conclusions, because of the media onslaught against her, maybe the McCain camp is purposefully protecting her and her family. Keeping her on message, with talking points and not allowing her to get into her feelings on matters and if this is what they are doing it is a grave mistake. Or, they are a little smarter than I am giving them credit for.

There is one other possibility and it is a very enormous stretch and maybe even hard to believe. Taking into account what Sun Tsu wrote on strategic assessment, could this be what the McCain camp is trying to accomplish? They are notorious risk takers, but those risks are always calculated, not rash. Sometimes they work out better than others, but they are usually successful. McCain's camp has twice been on the ropes and twice has comeback. So, why not?

By sequestering Palin and having her appear as naive and inexperienced in an interview is risky for perceptions sake. But it gives her distinct advantages she will need going against a masterdebator, yes that is a joke, like Joe Biden. First, interviews that are given prior to debates are used to gain insight into tactics and strategy, like a football team or a boxer uses. They can gain you and idea of how your opponent might play in a certain situation. Secondly, Steve Schmidt is a student of Karl Rove and Rove is notorious for using deception and feints in his political strategies. Thirdly, it would possibly make the Obama camp become over confident before the debate.

With that in mind, the Obama camp is known for dropping their guard when they think they have victory in their hands and whining when losing. Right now, advantage Obama, the stage is set for his victory. If they form a certain strategy for Palin and she comes out with something totally different I do not think Biden could handle it and would certainly be prone to losing his temper and gaffing up a storm. That would ensure a Palin victory which would definitely reignite McCain in the final stretch as well as keep Obama off base in the upcoming debates.

I realize there are alot of "ifs" with this hypothesis and it may be way off base. But, just in case I am right, I wanted to be able to put my name in the, "I told you so category." If I am wrong then I get the, "You are a moron category." One, I am sure that Opie would love to see me in.

CT