The Drudge Retort

Maybe so. But TPM's Greg Sargent says the impact, as measured by cable hits, was the opposite:

"One of the stories ignored by Drudge actually got a whole lot more coverage on cable Tuesday than the one Drudge pushed all day in that supposedly hypnotic banner headline of his . . .

"As best as we can determine, the Streisand story was only the focus of episodes on Fox. Neither CNN nor MSNBC did episodes focused on it. On those two networks, it only came up in passing when brought up by GOP operatives (a no-brainer) or when subjected to ridicule by a few others.

"By contrast, all three networks devoted repeated stand-alone episodes to the Fiorina mess -- even though (Heaven forfend) Drudge ignored it! She appeared on all the nets again and again throughout the day.

"Look, far be it from me to question the notion that Drudge has influence over network producers. Of course he does. But if we're really going to devote so much time to flacking Drudge's influence, how about a real and nuanced discussion of it?

"For instance, does Drudge's influence over the cable nets really mean what it once did? The blogs pushed the heck out of the Fiorina story Tuesday. Cable news followed suit. Other media is influencing the cable narrative, too. Even more broadly, in the new media environment, the cable-bubble-narrative has competition and doesn't necessarily reign supreme at all times -- so is Drudge really as omnipotent as he once was?"

I have to side with TPM on this. Carly was the campaign flap of the day. Key reason: there was video of her less-than-brilliant remarks about how Palin (or McCain or Obama or Biden) couldn't run a major company (unlike Fiorina, who was fired by H-P). And in TV land, video rules.

The Palin bubble appears to have popped, based on this poll that gives Obama a 48-43 lead:

"Despite an intense effort to distance himself from the way his party has done business in Washington, Senator John McCain is seen by voters as far less likely to bring change to Washington than Senator Barack Obama. Mr. McCain is widely viewed as a 'typical Republican' who would continue or expand President Bush's policies, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll.

"Polls taken after the Republican convention suggested that Mr. McCain had enjoyed a surge of support -- particularly among white women after his selection of Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate -- but the latest poll indicates 'the Palin effect' was, at least so far, a limited burst of interest . . .

"More than 6 in 10 of those surveyed said they would be concerned if Mr. McCain could not finish his term and Ms. Palin had to take over. In contrast, two-thirds of voters surveyed said Mr. Biden would be qualified to take over for Mr. Obama, a figure that cut across party lines."

Still, 50 percent now say the surge has helped the situation in Iraq. As for the excitement gap, "47 percent of Mr. McCain's supporters described themselves as enthused about the Republican party's presidential ticket, almost twice what it was before the conventions." But more have confidence in Obama's ability to manage the economy.