Sarah Palin’s debate performance was a debacle of historic and epic proportions. I’ve never seen anything like it. It fried my synapses.
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BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
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She boggles my mind. She babbles and her admirers must have filters that allow them to select out various words and phrases and string them together into language that makes sense… to them. It’s that or I didn’t get the cereal brand that has the decoder ring in the box.
O, and: Can you imagine spending $350 to hear her speech at TeaPartyCon?
I recommend this NY Review article on Palin. It helped me to understand why her supporters support her:
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/23532
Basically, it’s all identity politics…they think she is like them, and she is actually quite talented at communicating certain emotions. (Ideas, not so much.)
Also, her debate wasn’t a “debacle” in the sense that she didn’t collapse under pressure, which was what many of us were expecting. She may have made no sense, but she made sure to act as if it didn’t bother her. There were times when she made Biden nervous in fact.
It was a debacle for our nation’s sense of self-worth.
When I used to coach high school debate, the kids used to always say that their technically toughest rounds came against their weakest competition.
Trained in the process of point-by-point refutation of a logically developed argument, they’re suddenly up against the rhetorical equivalent of a bowl of Chex Party Mix. Where do you even start? The first thing you have to do is rearrange the mess into a coherent argument for them, and then refute it.
It’s how Bush bested Gore in the 2000 debates. Gore was so appalled he got stiff and somewhat condescending. And then there was the genius move (who suggested that, Bob Schrum?) of stepping into W’s space.
A friend of mine called it Chewbacca debating.
Well it certainly didn’t make sense.
Re Gore 2000 v Bush, according to the Shrumster’s account, which I find credible, it was Al himself who was heckbent on doing something for that final debate that would “unnerve” his opponent. Shrum says he tried to get Al to reconsider, as the gimmicky tactic would probably backfire, but no go.
Too bad Al lacked the basic political instincts not to attempt something so silly, since the 3d was his best debate performance by far, but the awkward move across the stage to “confront” Shrub, with Junior’s dismissive reaction, got the headlines and Al lost the chance to gain some final momentum going into election day.
Thanks for the link – it does go some way towards explaining her popularity in some quarters. I quite like Arthur Gilroy’s characterisation of her as Christian Taliban.
Arthur hit the nail on the head with his comment. And there is nothing in what he said then that his not significantly more applicable today. She has a groundswell of support from the teabaggers, not to mention a continuously high profile in the right wing media. All of this is going to continue to gel as the months go by and we march toward 2012.
She scares the crap out of me. Not because she is a Republican, but because the extent of her very extreme views are so well concealed. And no one seems to want to really troll the depths of those views and discuss them in public. And fear of blowback will overwhelm anyone who dares to consider going down that road.
Christian Taliban??? You betcha!
Well, she didn’t collapse like Danny Quayle did with Bentsen over the JFK and C-in-C matters. In that sense, she wasn’t quite the complete disaster some of her handlers feared. Of course, as you indicate, she was there to play personality politics, and the bar had been set so very low for her, historically low, she just needed to utter a few headlines about an issue to stay above water.
I thought Biden competed well especially given a couple of handicaps: a) the far more experienced male pol couldn’t be seen to be condescendingly bashing the neophyte woman pol over the head with his superior command of the issues, and b) his tendency to commit the cringe-worthy verbal gaffe. Neither happened.
Mmmmm. Fried synapses.
I find it absolutely horrifying that this quitter can have such a high profile still. She can overturn a New York GOP selection and is no longer just am old weak heart away from the Presidency, she is a Florida count away from the Presidency.
The teabaggers adore her. They think she is the re-birth of Thatcher when in fact she is simply the personification of the teabaggers electric dreams girl.
I understand why Alaska Democrats are saying do not underestimate her. Dick Cheney with no brain
Did you notice how long the bad press about quitting as gov lasted? All of about two days. Then, she was just about finished for higher office what with only 2 yrs on her resume in any significant office and with the quitting. Now, after that book tour that the groupie corp media covered as if she were some rock star, the quitter image is all but gone.
Do not underestimate her indeed. If Obama doesn’t get his base energized, 2012 could be a replay of the shallow and dishonest personality politics of 2000 with Junior’s role being played by Palin.
Just to add I’m usually a lurker – so much so I forgot my password here, but a belated congratulations to you Mrs Booman and BabyBooman.
for people whose brains are suppressed by hormones and who haven’t bothered to think for years. Remember, since Reagan declared “back to basics” any sort of logical reasoning became a school elective. And the result: Caribou Barbie