2012 Ambitions? Palin Helped Herself More Than McCain at VP Debate
Assuming that the polls and pundits (even conservative pundits) are correct today that Obama/Biden will likely win the presidential election in 31 days, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin will not disappear from national politics anytime soon.
Far from it. As evidenced in last night's vice-presidential debate, formidable Sarah Palin is just getting started on the national political stage.
Palin Did Little to Help McCain at the Ballot Box
If the test of "winning" a debate is how successfully the candidate promoted his/her ticket, Joe Biden won by convincingly communicating Obama's domestic policy plans to aid ailing middle-class Americans. Biden, chair of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations committee, also clearly won due to his intimate knowledge of foreign policy.
Sarah Palin did little to enhance John McCain's ballot box prospects by her recitation (and reading) of talking points. And she didn't connect by constantly dubbing him a "maverick," and spouting worn McCain campaign mantras, including:
- "John McCain who knows how to win a war." (Really... when did he win a war?)
- "... there is only one man in this race who has really ever fought for you."
- "... a great American hero, Gen. Petraeus... and... another great American, Sen. John McCain."
But Gov. Palin lit up like a Christmas tree when talking incessantly about herself, her record, her community and her family. This is a political leader, full of certitude about her judgment and ultra-confident that she knows best for the U.S. and, indeed, for the world.
And Palin adored talking about herself.
At the '08 vice-presidential debate, she touted her own record, actions and accomplishments while gleefully ignoring debate questions. She put forth her own ideas, not John McCain's, on a myriad of topics. And to illustrate points, she used colorful tales from her own limited experience, not from John McCain's long and interesting background.
To my Southern Californian ear, Palin's pseudo-folksy moments were nauseating and silly. One pundit postulated that "older people" like Palin's common-person affectations. Really? My 80 year old parents and father-in-law, middle-class Reagan Republican westerners, are repelled by her angry-lipped smiles, cutesy winks and Hee-Haw lingo.
Opening Salvo for 2012 Presidential Ambitions?
But make no mistake: Sarah Palin is an appealing, attractive communicator, and a gifted politico who shamelessly stretches the truth, revels in attention, and stubbornly refuses to admit defeat, weaknesses or even the validity of opposing views.
In other words, 44-year-old Sarah Palin is a born politician. And to boot, she comes clad in red high-heels, impeccable style, and accompanied by a ruggedly handsome husband proud of her political ambitions.
Democratic party background vetting documents from her 2006 gubernatorial run portray Sarah Palin as a socially conservative, power-hungry, micro-managing bully who demands absolute ideological and personal loyalty from... well, everyone.
Democrats, be afraid. Be very afraid.
Should Barack Obama win the '08 presidential election, Sarah Palin, darling of the religious right, won't be going away anytime soon.
This campaign is likely only the opening act for the compelling, ambitious Alaska governor on the national stage. And she may stop at nothing to have her way.
The '08 vice-presidential debate may have been Palin's opening salvo for her 2012 presidential plans.
(Photos taken on Oct 2, 2008: #1 Win McNamee/Getty Images. #2 Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Comments
The way she was struttin’ onto the stage blowin’ kisses ‘n winkin’, ya’da thought she was runnin’ for Mrs. America. Then I had an awful thought. Perhaps she DOES understand American mentality, hence the corn pone pandering.
my mother (a lifelong republican who lives in a very small town in florida, now solidly behind obama) had plenty to say about palin’s “folksiness” and how insulting and classless it was of her to use it as a tactic in a political debate, as if the whole thing was a beauty pageant. in fact, she said it was hard at times to tell whether she was watching sarah palin or tina fey, some of the stuff that came out of her mouth was so comical and absurd.
personally, i was kind of amused by how gratuitous her little folksy phrases were. especially in comparison to biden, who was all class and tact. it was her winking that i found obnoxious.
Geez, you make her sound like a Plainview-type monster or something. I could definitely see Palin eyeing the national stage four years from now, and having a decent shot being being nominated for a ‘12 ticket. Like you said, she’s undeniably charismatic. I mean, who else are the Republicans going to choose, Huckabee? *shudder*
But there are other Republican politicians that I think should be serious ‘12 contenders. Take John Ensign, the current Republican Campaign Committee Chairman, for example. His opinions make a lot of sense and could be a major contender if he makes a real effort to minimize the amount of Democrats elected to Congress this year. Bobby Jindal is a great personality and a strong conservative idealogue, which is rare these days. Olympia Snowe is a brilliant Senator from Maine who very much opposed Rumsfeld’s Iraq War strategy. In fact, if McCain really wanted a woman to be his running mate, he might have been better off picking her.
I just wish Palin would go away, I see no promise in her…
To Rue and Kim: According to Susan Jacoby’s “The Age of American Unreason”, politicians, in more recent years, have been making attempts to make themselves sound more “ordinary” by using the word “folks”, practically on a near-constant basis. I hear it all the time now– “folks” this and “folks” that, instead of hearing the word “people”. Palin is obviously trying to make herself sound more “ordinary” so that people will think that she and McCain are speaking to them. They’ll then be compelled to vote for them and they (McCain and Palin) can then continue pulling the same trash that Bush has been pulling for 8 (too) long years.