Sever all ties with the mainstream media. Please don't repeat the mistake your running mate, John McCain, made. He thought he could trust the media to be fair. That judgment, or rather that lack of judgment, cost him dearly.
If you bank on "New York Times" to be fair, you deserve to lose. Remember the innuendo The Gray Lady spread about the senator and a certain lobbyist? Facts be damned! Do you remember the sleazy tabloid hit pieces that NYT used to smear Cindy McCain? This was the same organization that killed a highly relevant ACORN story just weeks before the election. All the news that's fit to spike.
Governor, you are a lightning rod because you share the values, hopes and dreams of most Americans. For that reason, elitists hate you. The media elite hate you even more. These are people who profess their love for working people but tremble at the possibility of a blue collar person holding public office. They despise working people, people who come from working families, people from small towns, people who did not attend the right schools and worst of all, they despise outsiders. As in, people from outside The Beltway.
But please do not grow discouraged by the slings and arrows of outrageous media. The fact that they hate you--and yes, they do hate you--shows the rest of us that you are probably a good person and possibly a worthy presidential candidate. Now is the time to show the effete snobs just how obsolete they really are. In an era of blogs, websites and digital video, you don't need the mainstream media for publicity. You can reach your audience directly.
We were all taken aback by Letterman's comments. But why did you appear on "The Today Show" later in the week? Granted, you are a ratings boost, and giving NBC face time sends a message to CBS. But pitting the media against one another won't work for very long. They maintain their genteel rivalries, but they will never be enemies. The members of Meadowbrook Polo Club do not pummel the members of the Oakbrook Polo Club with their trusty mallets. They hammer away at a little white ball and sip champagne with their competitors afterward. You will always be that little white ball. Keep that in mind.
But you don't have to show up at the polo grounds. Don't sit down with them! They can have the same access to your speeches and town hall meetings that everyone else has. Let them Twitter and Facebook and search Youtube. Do not participate in your own crucifixion.
Ironically, the mainstream media might help you in the long run. There are plenty of voters--like me or instance--who are uncomfortable with terms like liberal and conservative but who will vote against big media in a heart beat. When our enemies find a new enemy, it rekindles our interest in public affairs.
"I didn't come here to earn your good opinion." Live by your words, Governor Palin. Stop trying to earn their good opinion. Remember your next line. "I came here to serve the people of this great country." The choice is obvious. Serve your country or earn the media's good opinion. You cannot do both.
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