Jay Newton-Small wonders why Sarah Palin is giving a series of policy speeches this week. I think Newton-Small is implying that Palin is trying to build herself up for 2012, but the real reason the McCain campaign has her on this task, I propose, is simply because voters don't take her very seriously as a candidate, and her dismal poll numbers are hurting McCain. This seems to be an effort by the McCain campaign to staunch the bleeding before election day by making her seem like a more serious political figure, rather than a name-caller-in-chief. Indeed, the real question, given Palin's teleprompter reading abilities, is why she hasn't been delivering more policy speeches. Not that she's a particularly credible messenger for any kind of serious policy roll-out, but had she done a number of them over the course of the campaign it might have seemed that way.
Other questions for TAPPED? Leave 'em in the comments.
--Tim Fernholz
