Why Palin will win the White House for McCain
by RT
I’ve spent the morning reading reviews of VP nominee Sarah Palin’s disastrous interview with CBS’ Katie Couric.
I won’t go into the specifics of the interview, they’re all over the net.
Most of the reviews focus on the horrible job Palin did of explaining an earlier comment about her foreign policy experience coming from governing a state close to Russia:
“It’s very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the airspace of the United States of America. Where—where do they go? It’s Alaska. It’s just right over the border. It is from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there. They are right next to—to our state.”
Sounds like some pop-quiz ramblings, right? But let’s face it: The average American, myself included, probably couldn’t do any better when answering that question.
(Actually, I could. But that’s because of my job: If I didn’t have the gig I have, there’s a chance I’d probably ramble the same way. But wait: Perhaps an innate interest in politics and IR is what led me to the gig?)
Perhaps its the curse of the eight-grade reading level syndrome. (Note to self: Purchase The Vanishing Newspaper by Phillip Meyer.)
And that’s why Americans will pull the lever, not for McCain, but for Palin. It’s the “She’s just like me” factor.
Sad, but true.
I remember during the last presidential election, a friend gave me a tongue lashing over the phone about not backing Bush. (She said I’d been in Europe too long:-)). “I want a president that I’d feel good having as a next-door neighbor,” she said.
I predict that quite a few people will have that same view on Election Day. Why would anyone want an intelligent, educated, uppity liberal for president, when they could have someone who allows them to say, “Well, shoot, she’s just as clueless as I am and *she’s* the VP candidate! Heh, I can’t be all that bad!”
With each story focusing on Palin’s obvious lack of knowledge of any issues even slightly pertinent to being a heartbeat away from the presidency, a brick is placed in her Yellow Brick Road to the White House. It’s happening silently. Remember, the average American doesn’t frequent Alternet, DailyKos or the HuffPost. The views you see on those sites come from particular factions, right and left, who have the time to argue.
Palin makes non-tech-savvy, non-politically- or foreign affairs-aware Americans feel good about themselves.
And they’ll take that feeling into the voting booth on 4 November.
Image: asecondhandconjecture on flickr.
“Palin makes non-tech-savvy, non-politically- or foreign affairs-aware Americans feel good about themselves.”
‘Tis true.
And y’ know, the popularity of Palin, amongst that curious segment of the population that makes up her fan-base, reminds me of the popularity of Brittney Spears — amongst that curious segment of the population that makes up HER fan-base.
I’ve long believed that a great deal of Spears’ popularity could be found not only in her average looks, but in her very average singing voice. A voice that didn’t make her fans feel at all intimidated as they sang along — badly — in the shower, in the car, and in the karaoke bar. That Brittney was an average girl who made good in the music industry made her fans feel good about themselves. And when her life began to spiral down into an ugly swan dive, this too made them feel good about themselves.
Palin is an intellectually average person that other intellectually average Americans see as one who ‘done good.’ And I think that they feel validated for being just as….er, ‘smart’ as she is. And when her trajectory begins its southward dive — as I fully expect it to based on her appalling interviews — the Spears pattern will repeat itself. Well, this is my HOPE.
Otherwise I might be moving to Switzerland.
[...] Over at TNMD: Why Palin will win the White House for McCain. [...]
@Paco -> Sarah = Britney. Great link. Didn’t even make the connection (shows you how much attention I pay to Britney:-)).
Now i’m the one that’s confused…isn’t this her ‘job’ or are we talking about someone other than Palin, the R. VP Candidate for the White House?
I know its crazy, but maybe, just maybe, she should know about forign policy, and other silly stuff like geography, IR and…I know I’m really pushing it now…be able to string an intelligent sentence together like she knows something about politics in general?
Hilary did a great job for women in politics, Palin is well… embarrassing, and could take woman back decades if we have 4 year of this to endure. I cringe for her every-time I hear she’s talking to …well, anyone. If she really has any potential someone save this woman, and prepare her properly. Otherwise, find a candidate who’s worthy of the post.
@Eddie – > You would be absolutely right if we were dealing with a logical situation. Most, not all, but most people choose their candidates based on emotions, not logic. They try to find something in a candidate that they can identify or have something in common with.
If one were to make an Excel file and list the qualities of all of the candidates – ethnic background, education and so on – I’m willing to bet that Palin would come the closest to being the average American. That’s what most voters are looking at, not qualifications.
I am very saddened and disturbed that in the 21st century when most people in America should be literate would follow such an “illiterate” line of behavior. You would think we were at the beginning of the 20th century, not the 21st. So much for the “information age.” Is seems to have dumbed down people more than empowering them.
I find in the workplace that the “average” American is uncomfortable with people who use a “large vocabulary.” I had a colleague at work inform me that there were people that were “intimidated” by my vocabulary (which I was not using at full capacity) and that because I was also Black that this made it even more uncomfortable for them.
So… even though I am saddened by the reality of the “average” American and Palin, unfortunately, I am not surprised by it.
God Bless America. It needs a big blessing and fast.
Dearest Rashunda,
If you only read the HuffPo or Daily Kos, you are getting a very left leaning view point. Try reading michellemalkin(dot)com in the US and smalldeadanimals(dot)com for the Canadian perspective.
Sarah Palin’s draw for me is that she has been a governor for less than 2 years and has accomplished much. The stand she took to end corruption and payoffs by the oil companies to the Republicans in power got my respect. She also got the pipeline deal negotiated and signed when the oil and gas companies had initially refused to pay for it, demanding taxpayers fund it. She got rid of the unnecessary perks of being governor, which would have increased her own level of luxury and comfort, and did not serve the taxpayers.
John McCain also has worked for years to try and stem the tide of political donations for favorable votes. His experience and readiness is evident.
Looking at Barak Obama, what international affairs experience does he have? What are the laws that he proposed? What brilliant legal papers did he write when he was the head of the Harvard Law Review? How can someone vote “present” over 130 times as a state senator? Does he have no opinions? Did he not understand the legislation enough to form an opinion? Were all those pieces of legislation irrelevant to his constituents?
How are those communities he organized doing? Where are the increases in quality of life for the residents of those communities? How many jobs were created? How much money went into “community programs” that were never realized at all? (Hint: most of it) What is the status of the apartment buildings that Obama was working on getting the asbestos out of?
The answers to most of these questions can be found on the internet. All except the records of Ayers and Obama working together.
What specifically qualifies Barak Obama to be president of the United States?
How many black people are voting for Obama because he is like them? If greater than 95% of whites were voting for McCain, it’d be called racism, wouldn’t it? People are already assuming in advance that if Obama loses, it would only be due to racism.
Why has the main stream media not asked him any questions about Ayers and Obama’s time together community organizing? Why have the records from that time been so hard to access by those trying to do due diligence on the candidate?
How can he barely know the former Weather Undergroud terrorist Ayers, yet have had his coming out party at Ayer’s home?
If Barak Obama is as brilliant as everyone says he is, then he is truly a major disappointment when you review his record of accomplishment.
I apologize for the one typo and the one grammatical error, as I am a highly tech savvy and extremely educated lesbian. I am also voting for McCain/Palin.
Dr Kyla
@Kyla – > You sound like a press release.:-) Honestly, I think both sides are full of sh!t. It’s just that Obama has a little less.
Dearest Kyla,
You sound canned to me also.
I asked those questions about Obama so that perhaps those who support him will look for the answers. I certainly wanted to know, and have looked the answers up myself. I also know that if I merely gave the answers they wouldn’t necessarily be believed.
We are talking about a very important job. Voting on emotions is not a good option.
Jocelyn, have we met? I used the salutation Dearest Rashunda, because she is one of my closest friends on the planet.
I notice that no one has stepped up to answer my questions about Obama, even the easiest one of what specifically qualifies him to be president.
Must be too hard to find an answer, eh?
@Kyla – > I don’t think Jocelyn meant any harm by using “dearest.” Also, and please know I’m not being mean when I say this, I believe the reason why no one is answering the Obama question you asked is because that seems to be a “by wrote” response from McCain supporters that they’ve been using for a long time now.
Update: @Jocelyn-> Kyla is a dear, dear friend.:-) We’re on different sides of the aisle, but that’s what makes the US great eh?
And I’m going to go with what Whoopi Goldberg said on a recent airing of “The View”: Quite honestly, no one running is qualified to be president, because to be qualified takes experience. So, you go on who “seems” to be intelligent enough to hit the ground running. McCain? Yes. Obama? Yes. Biden? Not sure. Palin? No.
And we’ve gotten way off of my original post.:-)
Presidential politics is about selling the decisions – decisions that other people make or that fate incurs on the public. That person has to have enormous sales person qualities, particularly in the USA. External appearances and fast reactions are hugely important. No wonder actors can be very successful in politics. So I like Sarah Palin, she looks like a great sales person. She had that cheeky look on her face in the VP bash last night when she said that, about the people in Washington, you never know where they stand now and where they stood yesterday. They all had to laugh as she was right – but her delivery was just great. She will be a great president. If you’d go to pick a president with actual political skills, they’d all have to be attorneys that worked as diplomats on difficult agendas for the last 15 years. So the question is now, do they want some type of John Wayne or do they want some City Slicker. Personally I think Robert de Niro and Scarlett Johansson would be better. But that is what the voters will decide on.