Gosh darn it, you just don't get any folksier than Governor Sarah Palin, do ya? She's so folksy she said "Doggone it" in a nationally televised debate that touched on domestic policy issues, financial crisis, and two wars. She's so folksy I'm pretty sure she spent the middle part of the debate in a rocking chair, smoking a corn cob pipe. She's so folksy that every one of her gerunds had dropped "g"-sounds; she uses erunds. But then, yer talkin' to a New York Times-reading, latte-sipping middle-American who cares about things like diplomacy, science, and civil rights, so what do I know?While I don't totally understand the distinctions drawn between civil unions and gay marriages, I was really happy that the topic was somewhat frankly discussed last night, but there's an important distinction between proposing gay rights and Palin's declaration that a McCain/Palin administration would not oppose such rights.
What the folksy stuff undermines, and this became very clear in the middle section of the debate (particularly as Biden became more energetic and lively), is the notion of diplomacy. Harry Truman joked that the role of vice president was to attend weddings and funerals, and he's not entirely wrong. Suppose -- and let's hope it's a long time from now-- that we lose Nelson Mandela or, say, Queen Elizabeth. Can you imagine Sarah Palin among the assembled dignitaries at a state funeral? Has she earned a spot at those functions, with her passport hardly two years old? Who, between her and Joe Biden, would best represent the dignity and sobriety of the American people in times that call for gravity and somberness? I've yet to see the non-ex-beauty queen side of Palin.
Despite from her W-like relationship with the English language and her Fargo accent and a manner that makes Paula Deen look like Edith Sitwell, I worry about making fun of or lashing out at Governor Palin. (Despite her opening "Hey, can I call ya Joe?" Biden was careful to call her by her title throughout the evening. He called her Sarah once, but corrected himself.) It's clear that the fun had at her expense by SNL and, well, everyone else with a sense of humor is playing into the conservatives' "Culture War" frame, a contrived but popular manipulation that plays to the rural red states in order to generate the fear that liberals will take away their money and their guns, their Nascar and their always low prices, always.
Sarah Palin is clearly not dumb -- her ability to nuance and manipulate in the debate demonstrates that. But "not dumb" is not the same as "able to lead."
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3 comments:
Say it ain't so, Brian!
See, that's the thing. People keep saying that Sarah Palin is not dumb. However, ability to regurgitate/recycle Republican talking points is not evidence of intellect, but rather memory. And gosh darnit I have yet to see any of that whaddya call it (?) evidence of actual mental heft or even mere curiousity.
These are serious times and serious times require a serious candidate. Winking, mugging, shout-outs and even, to some extent, the pageant-y smiling is inappropriate and goddamn annoying.
The idea that Obama and Biden have to work as hard as they do to beat the real Manchurian candidate of this election is truly galling.
When I say she's not dumb, I guess I mean less that she thinks critically or independently, but that she's able to use words -- however poorly put together -- to manipulate.
She's doing the winky/folksy thing as a matter of strategy, and she knows exactly why -- and for whom -- she's doing it. I think it's annoying and inappropriate, too, but then I appreciate government. And reason.
I totally agree that it's frustrating that, given all we know, this election is so close. But at the same time, I think we're going to win, and that shows some gain in reasonableness since 2004.
Yeah, I guess "I'm tolerant" is a better message than "I'm a wigging out homophobe," but I still find both candidates disappointing on GLBT civil rights.
I know the Dems have a political need to walk the line of "we're for equal rights as long as you don't use the word marriage" while generally being open minded in fact. But experientially? It still lands like a slap in the face.
And I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought Palin sounded like a refugee from the movie Fargo.
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