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Answering My Own Question on Palin

Discussion in 'The Dungeon' started by morbidelli17, Sep 10, 2008.

  1. morbidelli17

    morbidelli17 Well-Known Member

    I was mystified when Sarah Palin got the VP nod. I realized later that I was mystified because I was asking the wrong question. I wanted to know what made her qualified to lead the free world. What I should have been asking was what she would do to get people to vote for McCain.

    When you ask that question, she was a brilliant choice for the VP slot.

    There are two main roles women play in our media environment and one consistent behavior. The roles are object of sexual desire and nurture/caregiver. The consistent behavior is that they cede authority to men. Call this the “Good Woman” mythology. If you doubt this, go sit down at your TV set and watch the next 10 commercials. Watch who makes the decisions, who drives the cars, which gender turns to which gender for answers, and what gender the Voice of God (the narrator, the voice of authority in the commercial) is.

    These roles have been consistent in the mass commercial for decades, and are part of the mythology that women are taught virtually from birth. The message women receive on a daily basis is that if they look hot, take care of the kids, and don’t get too big for their britches, they will get True Love and happiness.

    (This mythology, not incidentally, is the value system that keeps most of the companies advertising in the mass commercial media profitable. No one makes money telling women that their intelligence is a thing of value. But Revlon makes a shitload of cash by telling them that the right eye shadow will win them Prince Charming. If you are relying on your audience to buy into that, it’s best to start teaching ‘em young, and keep reminding them of that daily.)

    Hillary rarely played the mom card, shot for the top spot on the ticket, and was, unfortunately, publicly outed as a failure in terms of object of sexual desire. If she was doing her “job,” as Chris Rock suggested, all Monica would have had access to was one of the balls – maybe. For that, Hillary was vilified. Even if she’d won the Democratic primary, she’d have been slaughtered in the general election. That is one of the reasons Obama got the nomination.

    Palin knows a woman's place – No. 2 on the ticket – and bills herself as a “hockey mom” who wasn’t afraid to strut her stuff in a beauty pageant.

    Which of these two women come closest to the “Good Woman” mythology?

    Not only that, Palin comes in virtually criticism-proof. She can hide behind her children anytime embarrassing facts start to show up. Spend money from the state taxpayers to take her daughter on a junket to New York? Hey, she’s just trying to raise a family, the best she can! Quit picking on her! (I find this one really ironic, I once wrote a series of articles that ended up with a city manager going to prison for misuse of travel funds. It’s called misappropriation of public money. Or, more bluntly, stealing.)

    Polls show that Palin’s pick has drawn voters to the McCain ticket, but virtually all of those voters are white women. Of course. Suddenly, Palin's pick makes perfect sense. For these voters, Palin’s selection validates the decisions they’ve made in their lives. Suddenly, someone "like them" is on a presidential ticket! The obvious contradictions – I’m just an ordinary mom with five kids, so give me a job where I’ll never have time to raise them, my family’s off-limits unless I’m parading my pregnant unwed teen daughter on stage – don’t matter. It doesn't matter that her politics would limit, not enlarge, opportunities for women in our society. It's not about facts, it's about feelings. Note this quote from a Republican strategist:

    John Feehery, a Republican strategist, said the campaign is entering a stage in which skirmishes over the facts are less important than the dominant themes that are forming voters' opinions of the candidates.

    "The more the New York Times and The Washington Post go after Sarah Palin, the better off she is, because there's a bigger truth out there and the bigger truths are she's new, she's popular in Alaska and she is an insurgent," Feehery said. "As long as those are out there, these little facts don't really matter."


    For these voters, selecting the best person for the Oval Office isn’t the question at hand. It’s about the narrative and how it makes them feel about themselves. Besides, it always works out in the end on Lifetime TV. Why wouldn’t it work out here?

    Well done, McCain folks. Sheer brilliance.
     
  2. Strick

    Strick Good to be king

    Very interesting premise and some of it may be true but there are some holes in it as well.
     
  3. Vanzan

    Vanzan Active Member

    Although, if I was to say the Democrats picked Obama because he is black...to get the black vote and the 'sympathieser' vote; I would be called a racist. So how does your theory not make you a sexist?

    How do you defend the fact that BHO has no more experience that Palin?

    And yes, politics are a funny animal.
     
  4. dtalbott

    dtalbott Driving somewhere, hauling something.

  5. morbidelli17

    morbidelli17 Well-Known Member

    Wow! Someone actually reads my blog! That's amazing; the only comment we'd ever gotten for the longest time was the "Obama is a Muslim" virus.

    The difference between Palin and Obama is that Obama was selected by a huge group of voters, not a handful of political consultants. To suggest that Obama's selection was based on his race implies a massive, coordinated effort by millions of Democrats who thought the image of an African-American would be the best way to attract independent, moderate and swing Republican voters - and I'd have a very hard time believing that. Obama's race isn't an advantage in trying to attract mainstream voters. His race certainly wasn't part of a deliberate campaign strategy by the Democratic party to win over Middle America, I think it's safe to say.

    I'd be interested in hearing any thoughts on the holes in the premise. I'm willing to learn.
     
  6. dtalbott

    dtalbott Driving somewhere, hauling something.

    The biggest difference between Palin and Obama is the office they each seek - she the VP, and he the president. She doesn't have to have much experience as VP; VP is on-the-job training. Obama doesn't have much experience, either, and he won't have the OJT.

    Obama won the Democratis nomination because of his color, his gift at speaking, and the Democratic trait of promising the world.

    Health care for all to get the poor votes.

    Bigger student loans and/or grants to get the youth votes.

    Boost the auto industry to get the union votes.

    Now the president can have the best intentions, but he can't pass anything without Congressional approval, and even though both houses are majority Democrat, the Democrats still have not managed to accomplish much at all.
     
  7. tzrider

    tzrider CZrider

    Laughable. He managed to make his color irrelevant.

    Hats off Mr.Obama...
     
  8. HonZuki

    HonZuki Banned

    I thought we wanted the best person to run the country:confused:
    I did see a poll and interviews with people claiming they will not vote for the Obama chap because he is black.
     
  9. R Acree

    R Acree Banned

    There are many who will not throw off the stupid of the past, but not all who don't vote for Obama are doing so for racial reasons.
     
  10. 999

    999 Well-Known Member

    Health care for all because the middle class is being crushed by insurance costs in the case of those who can afford insurance, and being ruined financially in the case of those who can not.

    More money for education because we need more well educated young people to compete globally.

    Boost the auto industry because our economy relies on them.

    Democrats can not do much at all right now... with a Republican in the White House, and less than a veto proof majority in the Senate.

     
  11. R Acree

    R Acree Banned

    And if you taxed the wealthy 100% you could not pay for all of this. Why do we insist that insurance is the problem with health care? It is a part, but 40 years ago not many had insurance and the system worked. People paid for service. Insurers simply skim a significant percentage of health care dollars off the top and drive up the cost of service. More of the same will not fix the system.

    Money is also not the problem with education. Many systems have bloated administrations and there is significant cost added for providing social programs that are not directly involved with education. Parents are a significant part of the problem. We've been throwing more money at schools for decades and the results are not getting better. Again, more of the same will not fix the system.

    It is not the place of government to prop up any industry, automobiles included. The auto inductry is in trouble because of poor decisions by management and union greed. Promises made decades ago to mollify unions have created a pension and benefit structure that cannot be sustained.

    Any bailout of the above is coming out of my pocket and yours. There aren't enough rich and the poor don't pay anyway. Quite frankly, I feel I pay enough.
     
  12. HonZuki

    HonZuki Banned

    Gents,
    It looks like we are all in agreement here to an extent. It seems like we need to have a leader that can run the country like a business also. This will be a tough go for the next person.
     
  13. dtalbott

    dtalbott Driving somewhere, hauling something.

    Quick! How many bills has Bush vetoed as President?
     
  14. RCjohn

    RCjohn Killin machine.

    Are the flowers pretty in your fantasy land? :rolleyes:
     
  15. bardo

    bardo Well-Known Member

    Squawk
     
  16. Strick

    Strick Good to be king

    One big hole is you try to pigeon hole all women into your 2 categories. Doing that it is easy to conclude what you have but I would think that is an awful lot of generalization. It seems you started with you conclusion and then worked backwards.
     
  17. R Acree

    R Acree Banned

    He lost me at "go sit in front of your TV". Unless it is racing, I don't watch.
     
  18. Robert

    Robert Flies all green 'n buzzin

    Secret Service Code Names:

    Sarah Palin - Denali
    Todd Palin - Driller

    Denali is the national park “famed for it's mountain peaks.”

    When do they announce Bristol and Trig's code names?
     
  19. YZFBeliever

    YZFBeliever Well-Known Member

    This is really a great point. If Barack Obama were Barry Obitz a white polictician with no executive experience at all. Would he have beat out Hillary for the nomination?

    Be honest
     
  20. RCjohn

    RCjohn Killin machine.

    Sad to say it but no.
     

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