Hill the Shrill Versus the Killa From Wasilla

Looks like the Obama campaign, now officially on the run, has to bring out Mrs. Clinton to do a little damage control. I suspect a lot of rank and file Democrats have buyer's remorse.

Who knows, Hillary versus Sarah Palin could be the 2012 presidential matchup.

With the presidential race in a dead heat, Hillary Rodham Clinton has been enlisted to blunt the formidable impact of GOP running mate Sarah Palin by stumping for Barack Obama in Florida tomorrow.

The Alaska governor's powerhouse speech at the Republican convention last week bounced John McCain back into a tie with Obama - wiping out a six-point lead Democrats held after their Denver convention.

Gallup and Rasmussen polls released yesterday both show McCain within two percentage points of Obama - 45 to 47 percent, according to Gallup - a statistical tie factoring in the margin of error.

That's a significant drop from polls taken right after Obama's Invesco Field speech, when the Illinois senator was a clear front-runner. The convention "bounces" canceled each other out.

The Rasmussen survey also indicated McCain was peeling away Obama's female support. Obama's 14-point lead among women as of last Tuesday had been cut in half - down to 51 to 44 percent. Among men, McCain retained his average three-point lead.

One of the lamer media memes the past few days has been how Team McCain is trying to shield Palin and how she won't be making television appearances yet.

Need we remind the media (of course, we must) that back in 1999 Mrs. Clinton had a carefully choreographed listening tour where she didn't take questions from the media? This was after being in the White House for many years and being well-versed on Washington politics.

I don't recall back then any insinuations about how she was afraid of the media. Now nine days into the campaign with John McCain we're supposed to wonder why Palin won't give her time to a media that has done nothing but savage her?

Are these people for real?