Palin and genius in the same sentence? Yes, and it is more than deserved. Sarah Palin’s manipulation of the media has been an absolute masterpiece.  No one save the President himself commands the attention of the press quite like Sarah Palin.  She may be the first politician who really “gets it” when it comes to our new communication age.  Sure, the Deans and the Obamas and the McCains may have dabbled online and used the internet for some fundraising, but she has really grabbed it by the horns, taking new media and pop culture as they pertain to politics to a whole new level.

When the Karl Roves and the David Frums say she’s not Presidential because of a reality show, I say these insiders are the ones who are out of touch, not Palin.  Isolated in their Washington think tank bubbles, they seem to be missing the changes to the world around them.  In the age where pols show up hosting Saturday Night Live, where 24/7 cable news has changed the landscape, where bloggers have gained stature as the Times and the Post continue to dwindle, Palin seems to be adjusting better than the Old Guard.

This happens nearly every generation.  Presidential nominees used to be chosen by party bosses, until the Kennedys refused to wait their turn.  They started entering the previously meaningless primary elections and gaining widespread support, forcing their way to the top of the Democratic Party.  In prior years, presidential candidates rarely debated and when they did it gained little attention, but with the introduction of television that all changed.  What should have been Richard Nixon’s easy path to the presidency was changed dramatically due to JFK’s appearance on television.  The cool young Senator dazzled the television audience while the sweating Vice President saw his chances slip away.  The old party boss system was eventually beaten down and made irrelevant, culminating in Jimmy Carter’s win in 1976.  Ronald Reagan would have never been able to conquer the GOP establishment had he stuck to the convential wisdom. Instead, he challenged Nixon, nearly toppled Ford, and finally beat Bush and the Eastern Establishment for good.  His fame from film and radio combined with his campaigning for conservatives all around the country forced the establishment to buckle in the end.  Now Reagan is a GOP icon, something that the establishment would have never let happen had it had been up to them.

I imagine that in 1952 no one could have dreamed of General Dwight Eisenhower talking about his underwear or playing the saxophone.  Yet in 1992 there was Bill Clinton talking about boxers and briefs on MTV and blowing away at the sax on The Arsenio Hall Show.  Times will always change, and how we connect and communicate with each other will change along the way. Candidates used to announce their campaigns at or near the convention. Now, they announce on The Tonight Show two years in advance. Lincoln and Douglas may have debated the details of policy for hours on end, but these days debate questions are asked via YouTube. What this all means is that what seems unconventional today could very well be the conventional tomorrow.  The GOP establishment would be wise to heed the lessons of history if they have any hope at all of stopping the Palin juggernaut. ?