The right approach to Palin
Now that everyone has a had a couple days to digest McCain's head-scratching choice for running mate, it makes sense to understand how to approach her.
A current push by the GOP is that Palin's experience trumps Obama and Biden's (and McCain's) because she has sat in an executive office. That's silly on its face and hardly passes the straight face test, but enough independents may buy this line to offer a few thousand votes for McCain here and there. It also opens the door to a line by line assessment of her executive abilities so that the question becomes one of not just raw experience but, more importantly, competence.
Experience I think is not the way to go here. First, Democrats will get themselves involved in a fighting match of Palin's vs. Obama's qualifications. To frame an argument between a lightweight VP candidate against Obama will diminish the latter.
Also any hint of sexism, of course, will explosively backfire. I've already seen enough on the internets over the last 48+ hours to make any feminist's blood curdle. Any argument that Palin is too stupid or unsophisticated will be interpreted by the media, which is looking for a fight, as sexism and it will be held against Democrats.
The beauty of the Palin pick, though, is how the age meme writes itself. Obama maybe opened the door to McCain's temper question on Thursday, but it was McCain on his own who picked a 44 year old un-vetted running mate on his 72nd birthday. The natural question, which Obama never has to raise himself, is what happens if McCain doesn't last the whole term? Most voters will view Palin as far too dangerous an option in this post-9/11 world.
The best area to attack Palin directly is that she is a dangerous extremist. She is virulently pro-life, is a global warming denier, wants creationism taught in schools, supports sadistic aerial hunts of wolves and bears when voters have twice turned down such an initiative and believes that the only route to energy independence is to drill more oil and gas and has rejected wind power. Simply put, Sara Palin is outside the mainstream. Such an argument does not rely upon her experience or her gender but about what she believes in. That coupled, with McCain's age and her lack of judgment (trooper-gate) should render her irrelevant outside hard-core right wing voters.
A current push by the GOP is that Palin's experience trumps Obama and Biden's (and McCain's) because she has sat in an executive office. That's silly on its face and hardly passes the straight face test, but enough independents may buy this line to offer a few thousand votes for McCain here and there. It also opens the door to a line by line assessment of her executive abilities so that the question becomes one of not just raw experience but, more importantly, competence.
Experience I think is not the way to go here. First, Democrats will get themselves involved in a fighting match of Palin's vs. Obama's qualifications. To frame an argument between a lightweight VP candidate against Obama will diminish the latter.
Also any hint of sexism, of course, will explosively backfire. I've already seen enough on the internets over the last 48+ hours to make any feminist's blood curdle. Any argument that Palin is too stupid or unsophisticated will be interpreted by the media, which is looking for a fight, as sexism and it will be held against Democrats.
The beauty of the Palin pick, though, is how the age meme writes itself. Obama maybe opened the door to McCain's temper question on Thursday, but it was McCain on his own who picked a 44 year old un-vetted running mate on his 72nd birthday. The natural question, which Obama never has to raise himself, is what happens if McCain doesn't last the whole term? Most voters will view Palin as far too dangerous an option in this post-9/11 world.
The best area to attack Palin directly is that she is a dangerous extremist. She is virulently pro-life, is a global warming denier, wants creationism taught in schools, supports sadistic aerial hunts of wolves and bears when voters have twice turned down such an initiative and believes that the only route to energy independence is to drill more oil and gas and has rejected wind power. Simply put, Sara Palin is outside the mainstream. Such an argument does not rely upon her experience or her gender but about what she believes in. That coupled, with McCain's age and her lack of judgment (trooper-gate) should render her irrelevant outside hard-core right wing voters.
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I think that with Palin, you need to address the issues as heartwrenching one. Her opponents have to go straight for the emotional jugular.
As in, baby polar bears should not have to drown and die because Palin feels that global warming is not man made. There should be an ad showing baby polar bears drowining and Palin opposing the idea of global warming.
Palin supports rapist choosing any woman he as the mother of his child. Palin supports the rights of fathers to make their daughters mothers of their children.
Palin supports educating our children to beleive in creationism over science.
Every single issue needs to be framed from an emotional stance.
Facts will not be sufficient.
We have to go after HEARTS...
We have to make the issues very simplistically emotionally wrenching that only a coldhearted person would ever suggest!
Paint Palin's positions as those of someone who has a frozen tundra for a heart!
There should be a save the polar bears poster from the Obama camp.
September 1, 2008 10:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
O my!
Look it how the right is skewering Palin on the family first issue:
"can she REALLY put her husband and children first if she has the second highest office in the country? Especially if things go wrong, which they very, very likely will? Can she be there for her husband if she's a very busy working mother? Can she fulfill her duties as a wife if she's traveling abroad and attending congressional sessions and casting deciding votes? Can she drop everything and handle a crisis with one of her children? Pro-family doesn't mean you're pro-HAVING a family, or pro-LOOKING like a family, or pro-God's designation of a family (which she is--one man, one woman, for life, etc). Pro-family means family comes FIRST, and each spouse puts that responsibility FIRST"
my, my, my! ..more:
"the message being sent to women by conservative Christians backing McCain/Palin is, "It's ok to sacrifice your family on the altar of your career; just don't have an abortion." How pro-family is that?"
http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=7847
Well now, seems to me that these Christian conservatives sound just like the Muslims who beleive in sharia law and women wearing burkas.
There is no difference between these moral social conservatives and the Muslim extremists who at the core claim the same moral outrage for their terrorism. Outrage at western values that allow women to have a place outside the home and to wear those scandalous pants and completely visible faces and hair!!
What outrage...folks this is our nation, if we allow the Christian right to rule government we will be no different from the Muslim dominated countries.
Think on that!!
September 1, 2008 11:30 AM | Reply | Permalink