To follow up on Matt Ortega's post yesterday on the CPAC spat between Sarah Palin and Rick Santorum, I want to elevate a point made elsewhere about how Palin is helping Santorum with this tiff. Over at Daily Kos, Jake McIntyre makes this sound observation:
It's a basic rule of politics that you don't give oxygen to rivals with a far lower profile. By allowing herself to be goaded into a public spat with Santorum, Palin is violating that rule, and providing Little Ricky with a spotlight he couldn't dream of grabbing without her help. (And does it really hurt Santorum with the CPAC crowd to call him a Neanderthal?)This is exactly right. But what's worse is that Palin will face this quandary every time she is baited into a fight with a potential 2012 opponent. She is the top dog in the GOP. With the possible exception of Mitt Romney, anyone she argues with will benefit from having their profile raised. Even if she wins these spats, she's hurting her cause.