The Palin Performance
4 September 2008Having watched Sarah Palin’s first mass media exposure last night, and having had a few hours to reflect, I thought these ideas were worth sharing:
1. Sarah talked about two things: herself, and her opponent. She did not talk about the American people, their problems, the wars, the corrupt current administration, economics, the credit crunch, or anything else that matters to the American people. It felt, ultimately, like a team of rich folks, cheering on their new “pit bull.” (Her words).
2. I’m sure Sarah is on her way to a national career in politics, but the message she was trying to send – “I am just one of you” – could not be farther from the truth. Sarah is a marathoner and cutthroat politician, willing to fire anyone she perceives as not being loyal – or, in one case, who divorced her sister. There are a lot of bodies among those who have worked with, for or above Sarah, including her original mentor in politics. Sarah is not just another soccer mom. Or even another hockey mom.
3. Her version of her stand on the Bridge to Nowhere is disingenuous: she supported it first, and only reneged when McCain made it an issue. Even then, the state took the bridge money, and spent it somewhere else. There appear to be a number of similar issues in her Alaskan past; the blogs are now full of them. She does seem willing to talk truth to power, but she is also willing to modify the truth when necessary for her advancement. You will notice her leading with the Bridge story, as last night, because the best defense is a good offense. Ask Rove. Take your biggest screwup on the recent national stage, and find a way to brag about it.
Summary: While it is possible that Sarah’s charm and attack skills will help the McCain Palin ticket win the race, the result will be someone winning who doesn’t discuss the issues, talk about others, or show great concern for the deep and often frightening problems facing the nation.
While it is true that the VP is often asked to serve as attack dog during a campaign, interviews with past candidates competing with Sarah indicate that this non-focus on issues is not a new problem.
Did you notice that most of the men had been removed from the TV-visible crowd in the front of the stage? The result: although the real audience was 2/1 men/women, the TV audience last night was, visually, all women all the time.
6 Responses to “The Palin Performance”
September 4th, 2008 at 11:30 am
As many commentators have pointed out, her speech was aimed soley at the hard-right base of the Republican party. McCain was already winning in that group by 80 percent. The problem with turning this into a base election is that this year, the Democratic base is much larger than the Republican base. If it’s a base-based election, the Democrats win easily. McCain and his advisors must know this, so all I can figure is that they hope to make it close by energizing the religious right, get them to the polls, and deny Obama a fillibuster-proof Senate majority, which otherwise looks very reachable. Otherwise, this move, and the lack of reaching out to Independents and disaffected Democrats makes no sense.
September 4th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Right on Mark! I am glad someone in the media did their homework. Albert
September 5th, 2008 at 5:49 am
Mark, I hope hope that we do not see a repetition of the 1999 mistakes. Do not underestimate the opponent.
Kai
September 7th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Thank you for your astute synopsis of what is happening before our very eyes! I Googled
“the Palin performance” and got 1,690,000 hits!
Thankfully your message was right there near the top. I am very afraid. Palin’s calculated aren’t-I-adorable demeanor and her self-satisfied smugness are oh so difficult to watch. But when you add the vitally important fact that most of what she says is not true, it’s sometimes unbearable, painful to watch. I want a bullhorn to the world, so I can scream “Don’t let them fool you! The emperor has on no clothes!”
September 13th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Mark, you are spectacular on technology and business issues — probably the best there is. I think it’s too bad that you’ve decided to get political instead — a real loss.
Hans
September 13th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Hans writes in the way that many of my serious technology members, generally Bush supporters, have written to me in the past. I appreciate your kind comments about technology and business, and all I can say are two things regarding the political sphere: first, I am sorry if my writing causes anyone pain or anguish, that is definitely not the intention; and, second, my track record has been quite good on political figures and movements.
As for Ms. Palin, the points made here literally moments after her launch on the international stage, have now been affirmed by intervening speeches, analysis, and her most recent interview (her first) with Charles Gibson.
Whether or not you like Sarah and her techniques, I think everything I’ve written here stands up very well. But I appreciate your comments, and again, because politics somehow involves emotions in a way that business and technology do not, please accept my apologies for any pain that these comments incur.