I love the smell of easy traffic in the morning. Team Barry was grumpy over her Journal op-ed last night so they tossed this grenade at her in their daily talking points:

On Gov. Palin’s Attacks

Every non partisan organization that has looked at her claims say they are false. And the ideas in her op-ed are both scary and risky. Eliminating Medicare and giving our seniors vouchers instead is a bad idea that we shouldn’t adopt.

To which Palin, within the last hour, posted this reply/prebuttal of tonight’s speech:

I’m pleased that the White House is finally responding to Republican health care ideas instead of pretending they don’t exist.[1] But in doing so President Obama should follow his own sound advice and avoid making “wild misrepresentations”.[2] Medicare vouchers would give everyone on Medicare the chance to decide for themselves which health plan to use, rather than leave that decision to government bureaucrats. Such proposals are the kind of health care reform that Republicans stand for: market-oriented, patient-centered, and result-driven.

The White House talking points leave the rest of my arguments unanswered. They don’t respond to the idea that all individuals should get the same tax benefits received by those who get coverage through their employers; that we must reform our tort laws; and that we should allow Americans to buy insurance across state lines. The White House also fails to respond to the Nyce/Schieber study indicating that wages will fall if the government expands coverage without reducing health care inflation rates.

One last thing: after President Obama’s speech tonight, listen for which pundits use the words “false”, “scary”, and “risky” in describing the proposals I put forward. That’s how you’ll be able to tell who the White House counted as “allies” worthy of receiving its talking points.

First out of the gate with the scary/risky rhetoric, to no one’s surprise: The DNC. Ace is right that the White House probably thinks making her the face of the opposition will discredit it, a la their “Limbaugh’s the head of the Republican Party” jazz six months ago. And he’s also right that it won’t work in this case because the “death panels” rhetoric tapped into public fears about rationing. Every time they mention her, they dredge that back up and it hurts them; they’re just too deeply in thrall to Palinphobia to see it. If I were a GOP bigwig, I would have finagled her an invite to the speech and seated her in the gallery as a visual reminder — preferably with this article in hand. At the very least, having her star power in the same room with him would create a media circus and steal part of his spotlight, which is the entire reason he’s holding this dronefest. And when he inevitably whines in his speech about Republican fearmongering while looking her way, she’ll be right there to hammer him with the tu quoque for the media’s benefit. Missed opportunity, Michael Steele.