Update (8:28PM): Normally, I'd have posted something else by now, or at least be planning on putting something else up. But I haven't been able to get this off my mind, so I'm keeping this post up for a while longer.
Original post: This is perhaps the single most incredible thing I've heard any candidate say this entire general election campaign.
Asked by Brian Williams whether she felt abortion clinic bombers were terrorists, Sarah Palin said she didn't know.
Others who would want to engage in harming in innocent Americans or facilities, that uh, it would be unacceptable to...I don't know if you're going to use the word 'terrorist' there.
It's not just the words she used -- it's the sigh she gave after Brian Williams asked his question, as if she were upset at facing a gotcha' moment. It was also the shake of her head as she spoke, suggesting she actually felt they weren't terrorists.
Watch the video and see for yourself (extended version here and in the vodpod):
Palin did say the bombings were unacceptable, and I fully expect Palin to soon say that she does think these bombers were in fact terrorists -- which they obviously were -- but the point is that it wasn't a tough question.
She should have been able to answer it without hesitation.
By balking and behaving as if she were stumped, she is sending a signal to her extremist base that her heart is with them. When she eventually concedes that they are terrorists, they will know that she only did so under duress.
They will know she is just 'saying what she has to say.' They will know where her heart truly lies.
You can view the full video at msnbc.com.
Update: I should also note (and will expand further on this point later) that John McCain has a very close connection to the abortion clinics bombing issue. He not only voted against protecting clinics from bombers on two separate occasions, but he actually sat through a speech in 1993 in which the speaker praised another woman who had just shot two abortion clinic doctors in Kansas. The speaker -- Marilyn Shannon -- was as a delegate for McCain at the 2008 GOP convention.
© Jed Lewison