September 12, 2008--Sarah Palin's Appeal
I’ve been struggling to understand Sarah Palin’s appeal and why her presence on the McCain ticket appears to have lifted it, especially among white women voters.
By the issues that presumably concern most women—ending the war, protecting the environment, improving education, family-friendly health policies, affirmative action, and the right to choose—Sarah Palin fails miserably. She’s further to the right than either McCain or Bush on these matters and yet we see her appeal, yes this excitement among so many. Every national poll suggests that as of now she has reversed the gap in white women’s electoral intentions—from a 10 point lead for Obama to at least as much now for McCain.
This may turn out to be a short-lived phenomenon—the appeal of the new, of celebrity—but then again it may not. If it proves to be more than another example of 15 minutes of fame (in her case, about two weeks thus far), it puts Obama’s candidacy in jeopardy.
In her column in the New York Times yesterday, Maureen Dowd, noting that Sarah Palin has agreed to be interviewed by Charlie Gibson; and suspecting that he might have a list of softball questions for her, came up with suggestions that Dowd felt would test and expose her.
She hopes Gibson will challenge her about her version of Troopergate (moving to fire her sister’s allegedly abusive husband), billing the state for per diem expenses for living in her own home rather than the governor’s residence, having Alaska pay for family members who accompanied her on state business, her flip flop about the Bridge to Nowhere, seeking to ban books from the Wasilla library, asking God to intercede in the building of a new Alaska pipeline. Things of this sort that would convince any rational person, when seeing her hypocrisy and dissembling, that she is not the authentic kind of person she and McCain are claiming.
Maureen Dowd may be right; but I suspect that Palin’s appeal is less rational than cultural and thus her new followers will not find what she is likely to say to be a turnoff. In fact, I suspect for many they will like her even more.
It could turn out to be another form of powerful Republican political ju jitsu in which an opponent’s strengths get be transmuted into vulnerabilities while their own weaknesses become strengths.
For example, when pressed about the stay-at-home per diem, her acolytes may say, “What’s wrong with a working mother of four or five wanting to take care of the kids while doing her job from home? I wish I could do that.” When asked about taking her husband and children with her on out-of-state trips, they may say, “That only shows what a devoted wife and mother she is.” When probed about wanting to ban books, many may say, “What’s wrong with that? Do you want your children exposed to smut? I certainly don’t want my kids to be reading Judy Blume. And while we’re on the subject of Governor Palin, I don’t find fault with her wanting to protect her sister from an abusive husband. I would want my sister to do the same thing. And, please, can we leave God out of this.”
This kind of counter-response is what I fear and unless the focus can be shifted back to McCain and his failed policies and corrupt career, if Palin remains above the fold, it will continue to be tough to figure out how to take her on and prevail.
By the issues that presumably concern most women—ending the war, protecting the environment, improving education, family-friendly health policies, affirmative action, and the right to choose—Sarah Palin fails miserably. She’s further to the right than either McCain or Bush on these matters and yet we see her appeal, yes this excitement among so many. Every national poll suggests that as of now she has reversed the gap in white women’s electoral intentions—from a 10 point lead for Obama to at least as much now for McCain.
This may turn out to be a short-lived phenomenon—the appeal of the new, of celebrity—but then again it may not. If it proves to be more than another example of 15 minutes of fame (in her case, about two weeks thus far), it puts Obama’s candidacy in jeopardy.
In her column in the New York Times yesterday, Maureen Dowd, noting that Sarah Palin has agreed to be interviewed by Charlie Gibson; and suspecting that he might have a list of softball questions for her, came up with suggestions that Dowd felt would test and expose her.
She hopes Gibson will challenge her about her version of Troopergate (moving to fire her sister’s allegedly abusive husband), billing the state for per diem expenses for living in her own home rather than the governor’s residence, having Alaska pay for family members who accompanied her on state business, her flip flop about the Bridge to Nowhere, seeking to ban books from the Wasilla library, asking God to intercede in the building of a new Alaska pipeline. Things of this sort that would convince any rational person, when seeing her hypocrisy and dissembling, that she is not the authentic kind of person she and McCain are claiming.
Maureen Dowd may be right; but I suspect that Palin’s appeal is less rational than cultural and thus her new followers will not find what she is likely to say to be a turnoff. In fact, I suspect for many they will like her even more.
It could turn out to be another form of powerful Republican political ju jitsu in which an opponent’s strengths get be transmuted into vulnerabilities while their own weaknesses become strengths.
For example, when pressed about the stay-at-home per diem, her acolytes may say, “What’s wrong with a working mother of four or five wanting to take care of the kids while doing her job from home? I wish I could do that.” When asked about taking her husband and children with her on out-of-state trips, they may say, “That only shows what a devoted wife and mother she is.” When probed about wanting to ban books, many may say, “What’s wrong with that? Do you want your children exposed to smut? I certainly don’t want my kids to be reading Judy Blume. And while we’re on the subject of Governor Palin, I don’t find fault with her wanting to protect her sister from an abusive husband. I would want my sister to do the same thing. And, please, can we leave God out of this.”
This kind of counter-response is what I fear and unless the focus can be shifted back to McCain and his failed policies and corrupt career, if Palin remains above the fold, it will continue to be tough to figure out how to take her on and prevail.
posted by Steven Zwerling at
5:55 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home