Bob McCarty Writes

Sarah Palin answers a question from debate moderator Gwen Ifill.

I tuned in to The Rush Limbaugh Show this morning just in time to hear Rush Limbaugh tell his 20 million-plus listeners that John McCain is acting like Al Davis, owner of the National Football League’s Oakland Raiders.

Having grown up a fan of the Raiders simple because my older brother loved the Kansas City Chiefs, I was immediately interested in the discussion.  Unfortunately, Limbaugh didn’t expand on the thought during the first hour of his show.  Because I think I understand what the popular conservative talk show meant when he said McCain is behaving like Davis, I’m going to offer my explanation in Rush’s absence.

Though the Raiders have spent several years in the league’s cellar, Davis still thinks of his team as a perennial contender for the Super Bowl.  Similarly, McCain still acts as if his campaign is leading the race in much the same manner as it was soon after he picked Sarah Palin as his running mate.  But it’s not.

In reality, the McCain-Palin ticket seems unable to close the polling gap that has existed between his campaign and that of hyper-liberal Democrat Barack Obama.  Why?  Because the Republican ticket’s star player — Palin — has spent too much time on the bench and in the locker room instead of spending time on the field of play.

In order to win the presidency, McCain must realize Palin needs to play on every down — and then play her on every down — if he is to stand a chance of winning the general election Nov. 4.

“Playing her,” in a political sense, means putting her in front of as many Americans as possible in as many high-visibility settings as possible.  It means doing unconventional things in unconventional places or, in other words, spending time with ordinary Americans, looking them in the eye and asking for them to help her — and her running mate — win the White House and, in turn, save the American dream for our children, grandchildren and future generations.

If McCain chooses not to capitalize on Palin’s star power and likability, he does so at his own peril.  In much the same way as I turned away from the Raiders and switched my allegiance to the Dallas Cowboys, many American voters might, God forbid, “change” their minds and opt for another party’s presidential ticket.  And that would be a shame.