Sarah Palin's Achilles Heel
It seems she heard those words "lack of experience" and went straight into talking points la-la land. It would not be too surprising that Sarah Palin doesn't know what an Achilles heel is, much less what her Achilles heel is.
Here's the transcript:
IFILL: Let's talk conventional wisdom for a moment. The conventional wisdom, Gov. Palin with you, is that your Achilles heel is that you lack experience. Your conventional wisdom against you is that your Achilles heel is that you lack discipline, Sen. Biden. What id it really for you, Gov. Palin? What is it really for you, Sen. Biden? Start with you, governor.
PALIN: My experience as an executive will be put to good use as a mayor and business owner and oil and gas regulator and then as governor of a huge state, a huge energy producing state that is accounting for much progress towards getting our nation energy independence and that's extremely important.
But it wasn't just that experience tapped into, it was my connection to the heartland of America. Being a mom, one very concerned about a son in the war, about a special needs child, about kids heading off to college, how are we going to pay those tuition bills? About times and Todd and our marriage in our past where we didn't have health insurance and we know what other Americans are going through as they sit around the kitchen table and try to figure out how are they going to pay out-of-pocket for health care? We've been there also so that connection was important.
But even more important is that world view that I share with John McCain. That world view that says that America is a nation of exceptionalism. And we are to be that shining city on a hill, as President Reagan so beautifully said, that we are a beacon of hope and that we are unapologetic here. We are not perfect as a nation. But together, we represent a perfect ideal. And that is democracy and tolerance and freedom and equal rights. Those things that we stand for that can be put to good use as a force for good in this world.
John McCain and I share that. You combine all that with being a team with the only track record of making a really, a difference in where we've been and reforming, that's a good team, it's a good ticket.





I noticed this too. . . I suspected she heard the word "Achilles" and thought "strength", and so rambled off into a list of her (supposed) strengths. Maybe that is giving her too much credit. She either didn't understand (or misunderstood) the question, OR was deliberately not answering the question (as you noted, she may be under strict orders to never admit any weaknesses).
My opinion is she didn't understand the question; there are ways to admit "weakness" that endear you to the public and don't actually admit any weakness, a la "my weakness is my love of my country" or "my weakness is doing the right thing even if it alienates people in my own party", in other words portraying a strength as a weakness-- a great political ploy. But of course she probably couldn't think that quickly or be that crafty on her own, nevertheless it still avoids the point of the question: her lack of experience. I'm guessing she heard the "lack of experience" theme and rattled off whatever they had prepared for her to say in such situations, and the rest of the question flew right by her as she tried to remember the prepared statement.
October 3, 2008 12:06 PM | Reply | Permalink