Palin poop
September 15, 2008 at 5:42 pm | In Uncategorized | 6 CommentsSarah Palin has energized the Republican base –who are now, for all intents and purposes voting for a Vice-President rather than a President.
But it’s what she’s done to Democrats that I’m most concerned about. To wit: she has caused us to revert to our old “What’s wrong with Kansas?” meme, in which we continually dredge up fact after fact, proving that Palin is crazy, unreliable, corrupt –you name it– and her popularity continues to rise. I know you all read 538, so I won’t belabor the point, but Sean makes a critical argument in this post: Democrats must allow voters to like Sarah Palin, but give them permission to vote for Obama anyway.
I argued, in front of Troy, that Democrats sense the similarities between the Palin phenomenon and their own embrace of Barack Obama, and this resentment, if you will –that once again, the right-wing has proven able to beat us at our own game– drives much of the zany obsession that we see reflected in constant overheard conversations about Grandpa John’s plucky little Veep. Troy didn’t buy it, but I insisted that Obama’s political rise was caused by essentially the same phenomenon now playing out in Republican circles.
“A charismatic speaker, who embodies, in his/her person and his/her biography, aspects of ourselves that we admire –a politician who, if elected, would symbolize for us the kind of America we wish to be …”
Who am I talking about? So don’t be surprised when millions of Americans, who feel beaten down by the horrible failures of a President they found eminently likable, return to that well yet again, and rub it in the noses of Democrats. The fact that Barack Obama also happens to be perhaps one of the most qualified and capable people to run for President in my lifetime is essentially a coincidence. You either like him or you don’t.
All conversations should now begin, as Sean suggests, with some version of “Sarah Palin is a wonderful person. But life is not a sitcom. Now is not the time to have someone who’s totally untested at the national level a heartbeat away from the Oval Office. She’s got a great future ahead of her, and she’ll be a strong candidate down the road. But she won’t even have a press-conference. Obama is what we need in 2008.”
Who knows, that kind of talk might even turn her likability into a liability.
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Peter
Troy
Dan
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robertrlowe
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Yeah, there’s nothing worse than getting all drunk and waking up the next morning next to a pig, or a big fat elephant.
-Chief from South Park
From:
An Elephant makes love to a pig. Wow, prophecy if I have ever seen it!
Comment by Ken — September 15, 2008 #
Actually, her popularity does not continue to rise. Here are Sarah Palin’s daily approval numbers from the Daily Kos/Research 2000 tracking poll:
Approve Disapprove No Opinion
9/11: 52 35 13 +17
9/12: 51 37 12 +14
9/13: 49 40 11 +9
9/14: 47 42 11 +5
9/15: 47 43 10 +4
In the span of five days, Palin has gone from +17 to +4 — a statistically significant shift.
I stand by my earlier predictions.
Comment by Peter — September 15, 2008 #
Btw- I read Sean’s post and I do agree with him that logic won’t work against somebody whose opinion is emotionally based. However, people like the man he cited are probably dyed-in-the-wool Republicans who won’t be persuaded regardless. That tells me nothing about how to approach undecided voters and I’m not sure Sean has the answer. His idea, which Dan summarizes above, could be used just as easily against Obama and that makes it flawed. I do think the meme about Palin can be changed, though that must mostly come from the media. As people start to hear the “lier” meme, her numbers will drop (as they appear to have started to do) and they will stay down if people believe the meme. What Obama/Biden need to do, is focus on tying McCain to Bush’s failed economy, his right wing social agena, and his tax plan. Let the press eat Palin, while they focus on him.
Comment by Peter — September 15, 2008 #
Once again, I was caught pontificating without any facts … I’m glad to see her negatives are rapidly increasing.
Comment by Dan — September 15, 2008 #
I’m not saying Dan wasn’t pontificating without any facts (*believe* me), but maybe he is on to something regarding Palin’s celebrity. This is amazing– I just checked YouTube and looked at the list of top-watched videos of the day. 6 of the top 8 were clips of Palin/Clinton SNL skit!! And 8 or the top 12 were as well. I’ve never seen anything like it. [and this might have more to do with the dynamics of how network shows end up pirated onto YouTube— several sources rather than one, i really have no idea… but i’ve never seen a “Most Viewed (Today)” page on YouTube look so monotonous. And tina Fey truly deserves the good press.
Anyway, I think Palin drives us crazy b/c she reminds us so much of Bush. Much more than McCain does. You would *think* that after 8 years, America would be wiser than this….
Comment by Troy — September 15, 2008 #
Palin is precisely what leaves me believing that this country has no future and, moreover, deserves none. We need not pull punches in this discussion. The woman is a fanatic creep whose personal and marginal political life appears to betray every “ideal” with she and her handlers have shamelessly attempted to associate her, other than the violent death of game animals. Her selection as a vice-presidential candidate is the most cynical piece of political calculation since George McGovern decided that he really didn’t stand behind Sargent Shriver “100 percent”; in addition, it’s a screaming alarm to the nation about how entirely anti-democratic it is to have a vice president appointed in this weird “by these hands I thee appoint” fashion as though this were a ministerial form of government–which might not be such a bad idea, but not just for this office, in this bizarre way. Constitutionally, the vice president was supposed to be the person who came in second. Which presupposes more than two people running. Is that so bad?
Palin is an extremist, a liar, an ignoramus, and likely to be corrupt, slightly now, but significantly upon obtaining high office. The suggestion that we might usefully pander to people who refuse to acknowledge, or to contemplate, the despicable aspirations of this person to maintain delusional levels of American owning class privilege on the backs of whomever must be viewed as expendable for such a goal, is hardly to be distinguished from the suggestion that we might share such aspirations.
Why aren’t the Democrats spending 5 million a week to discredit this odious pair? It would be so easy to do. He abandoned his first wife for a millionairess and was made a patsy in the Keating S&L scandal, doesn’t know shit from shinola about anything, really, and has never held a real job. Sorry about the POW thing, but at this point it might be useful to remember that some people thought that war wasn’t so complimentary to American ideals, and that if you fly planes over countries to bomb them, you ought to be able to discuss why it was a good idea then, but wouldn’t be a good idea now (when Vietnam has joined the WTO). She’s a raving lunatic who recently thought Alaska should secede (and it should; who needs it?). It’s either win at any cost or lose, as far as I can see.
Comment by Rob Lowe — September 16, 2008 #