Why Sarah Palin Matters…to Democrats

At Salon, Glenn Greenwald notes this New York Times story–"Democrats Invoking Palin to Stir Base"–and comments:

I personally find it hard to believe that large numbers of voters will be motivated by a fear-mongering campaign centered around people who do not currently wield power, do not occupy any positions, and are not even running for office. But the more significant point is what this tactic says about the Democratic Party. They have controlled both houses of Congress for almost four years and the White House for almost two. Yet rather than run primarily on affirmative accomplishments (some Democrats are even running against them), they're reduced to this not-very-inspiring or hope-laden message: at least we're not as bad as Sarah Palin. […]

There's one irony worth noting in all of this as well. It's been extremely common to hear Democratic Party commentators complain that the media pays too much attention to Palin and her various utterances. But the reality, as today's NYT  article demonstrates, is that Democratic officials want her front and center, and have done everything they can to keep her in the spotlight, because they desperately need her to distract from their own record. Above all else, they want Palin and those like her to receive as much attention as possible, all in an attempt to try to use fear as a replacement for the hope and inspiration which are largely missing even among their own core supporters.

Reason on Sarah Palin here.