http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/10/poll_palin_hasnt_done_herself.php
Looks like most republicans do not agree with you Sam. And when you said no major gaffes you clearly forgot “FruitFlyGate” that is pretty major in a lot of peoples books, especially given how much time she had to get it right. It was not an off the cuff remark or a “Gotcha question” but a prepared speach on the topic of her choice.
Well she may at least survive as governor in Alaska. So far, according to her home town paper her approval ratings are only modestly off.
When Stephen Colbert had his run at the Presidency in South Carolina during the primaries, he reports that there were dozens upon dozens of political leeches willing to suck up to him: “You have a shot, baby, all the way the top, stick with me and we’ll go far,” and so forth. He said it was very disorienting. (This from what I read in Entertainment Weekly, about 1 month ago; an interview with Colbert and Jon Stewart.)
I think that Sarah Palin has surrounded herself with, or has become surrounded by, too many of those people. It is the same situation, I think, with W Bush — the echo chamber of yes-men, where every dumbass thing you say is brilliant and every crowd is hand-picked to cheer your every word.
I don’t know about that. In her two hockey appearances, she was loudly boo’d in Philadelphia(who could have seen that coming?) and her carpet injured the goalie in St. Louis. Why anyone thought her dropping the puck in Philly was a good plan, i have no idea. They boo everyone.
Obviously, the injured goalie wasn’t really her fault, but over on the HF(hockey fanatics) message board, there’s a thread titled “The Palin Curse”.
I only saw her most recent appearance, but in that one you are absolutely correct. In the first skit, she just stood there while Alec Baldwin made jokes, and in the second she just sat there while Amy Poehler rapped(quite impressively I might add).
I agree that McCain is incoherent, but believe that this papers over a deeper problem.
Palin is world-class with presentation and awful on policy knowledge and followup questions. I think she has a bright future in Hollywood and the lecture circuit and there’s nothing wrong with that. I doubt whether she will buckle down and try to become a policy wonk, and I doubt whether that would be a good idea anyway. Her strengths are considerable within the right career path.
Re: “Mixing it up…”
After the campaign Sam, do you believe that she will become a regular on the Sunday talk shows without making an ass out of herself? Will she ever be in a position where she has to give a wide-ranging press conference? (These are real questions, btw: I doubt whether she has experienced a tough press conference, but I very well might be wrong on this point.)
No kidding. She truly revealed the depths of her ignorance with that comment. I can forgive “Joe Sixpack” not understanding how important the fruit fly research is, but a person giving a policy speech? How do the Palin faithful spin that? How is deriding research that could lead to treatment of autism justifiable?
At any rate, Palin actually doesn’t know better than her handlers. They told her “don’t bring up the 150K wardrobe! The story is finally dying!” So what does she do? Bring up the fucking clothes today in a speech.
I know someone who studied fruit flies. Drosophila is used a lot in genetic research: I’m not surprised that there are studies relevant to autism.
Here’s a nice directory devoted to Drosphila studies.
This is an interesting error. A person with long experience in Washington would know that Proxmire was criticized for singling out basic research: they might be a little more circumspect with such anecdotes. Someone who was well-read would also have familiarity with the sometimes nonintuitive nature of scientific research. Intelligence and experience complement one another of course but a surplus in one can also make up for a deficiency in the other.
I think Palin has been made to look far worse than she is, because every question asked of her plays to her weaknesses and not her strengths. She’s the governor of a state with an 11 billion dollar budget. She’s had to make many tough decisions. Why isn’t she asked about that? Why isn’t she asked about her decision-making in brokering the pipeline deal? Why isn’t she asked about her going after her own party in rooting out corruption?
Answer: Because she would actually sound smart and competent if she were discoussing issues that make up her core competency.
Palin is plenty smart. Her problem is that her efforts have been focused almost exclusively inside Alaska, and she just doesn’t know much about Washington and the wider world of politics. They tried to hide her away, cram it all into her, and then turn her into a typical wonkish campaigner. That was a huge mistake. She should have been up-front right from the beginning, saying “I’m an outsider. I’m new to the Washington game. So no, I’m not going to be able to tell you what bill #HR801 was, who signed it, and what the significant issues behind it were. What I’m bringing to Washington is an outsider’s perspective. And unless you’re really happy with the job Washington’s been doing, perhaps you’ll agree with me that an outsider’s perspective is just what’s needed right now.”
If asked questions about foreign policy, she should have said, “My focus is gong to be on reforming the way things are done and working on energy policy. In the meantime, I’ll be learning foreign policy from the master, John McCain.”
If asked if she was ready to step in as President, she should have simply said, “If, God forbid, something should happen to President McCain, I will have the benefit of stepping into his shoes with a cabinet that he selected, surrounded by people of quality and with a functioning administration already in place. Under those circumstances, I will do what any good executive does - seek the council of those around her and delegate authority as necessary. As Governor of Alaska, I assembled a strong team, gave them the latitude they needed to do their jobs, but took responsibility for their actions. A president is no different. Under those circumstances, of course I would be ready. A luxury Barack Obama would not have, by the way. What is it about his record that suggests to you that he’s capable of running the executive branch? What evidence do you have that he’s capable of assembly a strong team for the White House? What kind of a judge of character is he? What is there in his record that suggests he knows how to choose the hundreds of people that go into a functioning executive office? You can look at my record and judge for yourself.”
In other words, she should have played up her strengths, acknowledged her weaknesses, and then studied like hell. Instead, they tried to make her one of the insider boys, and she failed miserably at it.
Turns out asking her about the pipeline isn’t a good idea either.
But in general, you’re right, Sam… they tried to remake Palin. I’ve always said that what the Republican Party was looking for in a VP candidate was a relative unknown with no downside, someone upon whose canvas they could paint anything they wanted. Someone, in short, who would shut up and recite the lines she was given. They didn’t get that.
Wow. So that’s what happens when someone drinks too much Kool Aid.
Just my opinion, but dude, she isn’t ‘plenty smart’. Everything I’ve seen/read about her screams ‘I’m an insecure control freak with an ego problem’. We all know the type, we’ve had them as coaches or teachers or bosses.
You don’t get to be governor of a state by being slow - she clearly has a sharp sense of timing and looks to be clever at manipulating people - her ‘gosh’ and winks and finger snaps during her debate and interviews are all dead-giveaways of someone who manipulates instead of reasoning. With her, loyalty isn’t something deserved or earned - it’s a bitchstick used to smack people around.
But don’t equate being clever at manipulating people to being anything resembling ‘smart’. She has shown no sign of curiousity about the world around her. She believes in creationism, for cryin’ out loud. So yes, she’s dumber than a box of rocks, and no doubt has found it frustrating that mainstream media - slightly more sophisticated than those up there in Moosepaw County Alaska (where I’ve lived, BTW) hasn’t warmed to her like everyone else around her always has.
Sorry, Sam, most of us are seeing the same thing as you. But we’re not seeing these things as strengths.
Stop boo-hooing that the media isn’t treating her fairly. It’s her job to get her message out not the media’s to find it for her. If she can’t manage the campaign for office, she won’t be able to manage the office itself.
And most of us don’t see ignorance of national politics as an asset in somebody who wants to be in charge of national politics. The Vice Presidency is not a trainee program and the President is too busy doing his own job to spend hours each day mentoring his Vice President.
It’s what we’ve been saying all along: Sarah Palin is not qualified to be President. She doesn’t know the job. And anyone who isn’t ready to be President - from Day One - has no business running for Vice President.
Out of your entire post, this is the one bit I really have a problem with. Doesn’t it make sense that someone who’s going to be dealing with the wider world of politics, hell, the wider world by any definition, know something about Washington, and the wider world?
That doesn’t necessarily mean she has to be a Washington insider, but she should have an interest in what goes on in the world if she’s going to play the big stage. Her comments have shown she really doesn’t have much of an interest in the world at large (not being able, in the Couric interview, to cite a newspaper or magazine she reads – instead, she said “All of them”, or words to that effect).
She was ill-prepared (but ambitious as hell) to begin with, then was mishandled by the McCain camp from the get-go. If McCain loses, I for one won’t pin all the blame on her (McCain sure as hell deserves his share), but she needs to take her share of blame as well.
This article suggests that Romney campaigners within the McCain campaign are spreading the rumors of a split between Palin and McCain in order to discredit Palin and give Romney a chance to run in 2012.
Explain how someone in this position is qualified to be VP? I feel very certain that if she were Democrat with the same credentials, you’d be excoriating her.
That’s a lot of “shoulds.” Very few “dids.”
Blaming her “handlers” is simply proof that she is not a leader, and is not prepared to be VP in any regard. The blame game is one played by losers. Palin is a loser.
Gee, ya think? Just like if Biden had claimed to control the senate Bricker would have been all over it with cites and shi…stuff.
I have absolutely nothing constructive to contribute to this debate, but I want to ask one question. Did anyone else, upon hearing of Palin “breaking away from her handlers”, get an image of her as a gorilla escaping from the circus and going on a rampage?
You’re not the first, although it wasn’t about Palin. One of Lewis Black’s funniest bits (it’s the part in bold).
I’m reminded of these quotes:
“Lookit, I’ve done it their way this far and now it’s my turn. I’m my own handler. Any questions? Ask me … There’s not going to be any more handler stories because I’m the handler … I’m Doctor Spin.”
“I am not part of the problem. I am a Republican.”
“Certainly, I know what to do, and when I am Vice President – and I will be – there will be contingency plans under different sets of situations and I tell you what, I’m not going to go out and hold a news conference about it. I’m going to put it in a safe and keep it there! Does that answer your question?”
“It’s rural America. It’s where I came from. We always refer to ourselves as real America. Rural America, real America, real, real, America.”
–Dan Quayle
i prefer rogue elephant. although she has been seen wearing the other teams logo…