|
|
| Re: Instead of deporting Obama's aunt... (432958) | |||
 |
|||
| Home > OTChat | |||
|
[ Read Responses | Post a New Response | Return to the Index ] |
|
||
|
Re: Instead of deporting Obama's aunt... |
|
|
Posted by trainsarefun on Sat Apr 4 13:28:44 2009, in response to Re: Instead of deporting Obama's aunt..., posted by AMoreira81 on Sat Apr 4 12:59:20 2009. Someday we will know more about the McCain-Palin 2008 campaign, but ultimately I think that the following will, more or less, become clear:1) Sarah Palin isn't a moron. This is what many of us would be led to think, but I don't for a moment believe that it's right. I doubt that she is a genius too, but few geniuses either go into or make it in politics anyway. She strikes me as being average to above average in intelligence, and above average in effort, except 2) Sarah Palin was a huge failure in presenting herself favorably during the 2008 campaign. I think that this can be attributed to her acceptance of really poor advice (she wouldn't be the first), and also a failure to just speak to the issues instead of worrying about how you come off presenting yourself. Sure she sounds funny, but plenty of quite capable people do too. I feel that she obsessed over image to the point of forgetting to refresh her memory about what her prospective President's positions were. It's a tough thing to overshadow Joe 'Foot in Mouth' Biden, after all! 3) Sarah Palin is better looking than most politicians. Unfortunately, while this plays well for relatively more handsome men, apparently this is a political liability for women, at least when you don't run an issues-centered agenda. 4) Sarah Palin is a good sport. I like needling and teasing, and I will say that although I disagree with Governor Palin on many issues, she has largely been a good sport about being the butt of many jokes, much better than Barack Obama, who has been staid and stuck up, in my view. (Think of the New Yorker cartoon, or the Bernie Mac episode). 5) Sarah Palin wasn't the reason why the GOP folded so neatly in the 2008 elections. Mostly, it was the fact that the GOP was in charge, and they failed to deliver. A lot of people in the GOP blame Palin when they should really wonder why they are increasingly or already in fact not a national party. Nothing like a convenient scapegoat. 6) Sarah Palin played into the Democratic campaign plan of competing images and icons. My own view is that she was not the right candidate given that the way to have the best chance of saving the GOP would be to paint then Senator Obama as a successful opportunist with limited experience who obsesses over image and who failed to make explicit his policies. (Then again, the "McSame" campaign didn't exactly come in with bright, bold ideas, mostly just this pathetic repetition of 'maverick' ad nauseam.) So I don't think that Sarah Palin is a buffoon, a pig in lipstick, or anything like that. I do feel that she made many strategic errors, but surely she isn't the first politician in history to do THAT! |
|
|
|