Sarah Palin Disinvited From Rally--And The Games Politicians Play (Updated)

What a mess.

First Hillary Clinton bows out. Now "all politicians" have been disinvited from the rally--which of course means that Sarah Palin will not be there.

I've seen different reasons offered by the pundits--everything from her not wanting to share the spotlight to her somehow undermining Obama. The reason Hillary Clinton herself gave was that it would make the rally seem too political.

After Clinton pulled out, the McCain camp invited Obama to come instead:

we hope Senator Obama will consider lending his own voice to this cause. And if Senator subsequently wishes to clarify any remarks that might be misconstrued, he will have the opportunity to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without preconditions after he speaks at the UN the following day.

Personally, I wonder if the comment about being able to "meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad without preconditions" was a dig at Obama, based on his comments about negotiating with Iran without preconditions. Not the most effective way to invite Obama to come to the rally.

Apparently others were also suggested to fill the void:

The Obama campaign in turn offered to send Congressman Robert Wexler of Florida — who had harshly attacked Palin for slender ties to Pat Buchanan— to the event.

That suggestion had about as much chance of being accepted as McCain's invitation to Obama.
Another possible substitute was Joe Biden:

COMMENTARY has learned that Joe Biden was invited to the event in the wake of Hillary Clinton’s refusal to appear on the same stage as Palin — and he declined. In an e-mail to me, Biden spokesman David Wade said that “we’ve had longstanding commitment to speak at National Guard Convention on Monday in Maryland.”

Biden's excuse seems to parallel what will happen at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting later this month:

Both United States presidential candidates will have a role in the Annual Meeting. Senator John McCain will deliver the opening remarks live at the "Integrated Solutions: water, food and energy" plenary session. Senator Barack Obama will address meeting participants via satellite. [emphasis added]

And to think people made fun of my suggestion that if a Democrat and Republican appeared together it would cause a tear in the fabric of the universe.

Joshua Pundit is writing about the fallout from this:

I already know a number of people who were planning to attend who aren't going to bother. Way to hand Ahmadinejad a win on a silver platter.

Those are 2 key points.

In the short term, whatever impact the rally could have had will now be diluted. Any mention of the rally will bring up the topic of the political oneupmanship that took place in the days leading up to the rally, and detract from the supposed unity of the protesters.

In the long term, those who organized the rally and were put into the position of disinviting Sarah Palin will lose support as well. Joshua Pundit has the names and contact info of the organizers of the rally.

Bottom line, it looks like everyone is going to lose from.

Except for Ahmadinejad.

ADMISSION: Funny how easily we are 'set up' to view things in a certain way. I realized afterward that of course McCain's comment on his site was sarcastic. The blog that led me to that page nonchalantly claimed that McCain suggested that Obama come to the rally, and that is how I read the page. Now, considering the swipe at Obama--and how poorly Obama takes criticism--there was no way that Obama was going to cooperate, assuming that the McCain camp was even seriously making the suggestion in the first place.

More on the Disinvitation here.

Crossposted on Soccer Dad

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