sythia is making sense:
Palin was a beauty queen. Probably a cheerleader too. She’s had five kids and she still kept her figure. Her husband’s a star athlete.
Remember those stuck up girls in high school whose daddies bought them whatever they wanted and they got everything just because everyone thought they were pretty and they never had to work for anything, it was just given to them, and they were such bitches to everyone around them who wasn’t a football star? She just reminds me of a…mean girl.
Do you think she thinks she’s better than you? She’s probably looking down her plastic-surgeried nose right now…
Indeed. And what was last night’s pep rally, if not talking about that nice Barack Obama behind his back? Perhaps that is why people outside her increasingly exclusive clique didn’t find it all that impressive. Reminds me of other times those “Republican” people were just really mean and selfish and fake and heartless and out-of-touch and unlikeable. Perhaps a way that “character” voters could understand the race.
And people tend to like it when the mean girl (or, equivalently, the mean guy with conditioned hair) gets her comeuppance. John Hughes should be brought on as a campaign consultant.
… Dahlia Lithwick sees this, too.
September 4, 2008 at 12:02 pm
Last night her husband needed a shave.
I think this is just about right: Sarah Palin is a female George W Bush.
Do we know anything about her life back in Idaho, or whereverthefuck?
September 4, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Klondike Barbie just received the Gert Jonnys endorsement: “Gerht stinglehausen phtpht Barbie mit Flugenblegnagenhaus pphtphtbpht.” Sieg Heil!
September 4, 2008 at 12:17 pm
She’s a type. People have already used Church Lady, Dolores Umbridge, and Tracy Flick. I think that’s a little off.
I’ll throw out there Elisabeth Hasselbeck and the woman who played Blair on The Facts of Life — who of course now has a son named Tucker [1]. Self-righteous, good-looking, and mean; a homebody Ann Coulter. The sort of “Christian” other Christians don’t particularly like, but have to grit their teeth when dealing with. A Pharisee prom queen.
Of course, the basement dwellers see something completely different, and should seek treatment if it continues to chafe. (But who knows? they might be right; there’s a reason Skynyrd wrote that song “Preacher’s Daughter”.)
[1] Is “Tucker” evangelical for “closet case”? I’m just saying.
September 4, 2008 at 12:28 pm
She’s sort of a cross of Jay Gatsby, Elmer Gantry, Annie Oakley, Cujo, and a transsexual Ricky Schroder, as developed for television by Karl Rove.
September 4, 2008 at 1:19 pm
A word of warning:
Many years ago I took a law class from a professor that was both a lawyer and an MD. He told the class that no matter how much of a crackpot the plaintiff is, or how badly he/she misused your product, the best defense in the world cannot save you from a young, obviously injured female. And god help you if that bruised and bandaged female is a child sitting in the courtroom.
So. Sarah Palin is being set up as a young female, with very young female children, being bruised and bandaged by the media. We could get really fucked if Obama’s campaign plays even a second of this wrong. Issues alone will not be enough. Pointing out her being a crackpot isn’t enough. One look at an obviously “injured” Palin and it’s all over.
I don’t have a clue how to play this.
September 4, 2008 at 1:26 pm
I don’t have a clue how to play this.
I do.
Stop talking about her personal life. Stop characterizing her (however accurately) as a “mean girl.”
Focus like a laser on her lies, her record, the vetting process, and what they all tell us about McCain’s character and judgment.
I know posts like this are fun (really!), but they simply don’t help build the case against Palin and McCain (though they do put a finger on why so many women have a visceral, negative reaction to Gov. Palin).
September 4, 2008 at 1:53 pm
This is a *brilliant* idea! The Dems could, like, TOTALLY lock in the all-important Swing-State-GEEK demographic with this line of attack!
Er, won’t everyone else be put off by the “whining, weak Democrats” who cry foul and can’t even stand up for themselves to a “little suburban mom”? Mean girls were *popular* in high school, remember.
I agree with #6 – The Dems need to be patient, keep focused on the issues rather than on making or even responding to personal attacks, and keep presenting a positive vision. Obama will do that. If McCain gets a bounce in the polls from all this BS, they can point out that McCain’s pick, and the Republican convention, has done nothing at all to solve the problems Republicans created under Bush, and Palin adds zero new policy ideas for fixing things. They should keep asking why if the two nominees are such anti-establishment mavericks, such a great force for change, why are they being so enthusiastically embraced by the Repbulican establishment? Here’s a great commentary (it’s a shame you have to look in the *Canadian* press for it!):
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/theeditorialpage/story.html?id=e9798744-6e16-4c6a-8d00-7e3f47c62ccf
I hope you all watched last night’s magnificent Daily Show, by the way. Let’s spread those clips of unbelievable hypocrisy.
September 4, 2008 at 1:55 pm
“I don’t have a clue how to play this.”
No one in their right mind — Democrat, Republican, whomever — wants to see Palin a heartbeat away from a one-on-one with Medvedev, Putin, or whomever the fuck is running Russia these days, even if they’re kinda-sorta-neighbors /joke/. And that’s just one example: What happens when McCain croaks and it’s the Hockey Mom representin’ against — oh, I dunno — Hu Jintau, Hugo Chavez, Raul Castro? And you think Biden’s gonna be rough on her? Jesus! These guys are laughing their asses off. McCain as Impulsive Bonehead still carries the day.
September 4, 2008 at 2:24 pm
It’s not like a moose-cooking pseudo-Pentecostal clique-dominating stone-jawed mature hottie is going to sway any independents.
Anybody with a streak of independence in their thoughts wants Mumm-Ra put in jail for life, not elected King Tutsicle.
Palin is strictly for getting that BASE energized, the one that’s not keen about electing a nigrah in the first place, especially one who was a sort-of-Muslim before he was old enough to ejaculate and who attended a church full, I say FULL, my friends, of nothing but nigrahs, all of them shouting Death to Whiteys while Reverend Wright (that’s like wrong spelled rong, see? just plain wrong) sacrificed chickens on stage claiming they’d come home to roost.
Roost, you see, being the verb from the the noun rooster derives, which only serves to make my point, right?
Question: if McCain is the Good Cop while Palin is the pitbull/soccermom Bad Cop, does that mean she says My foes whenever McCain says My friends?
September 4, 2008 at 2:32 pm
I’ll pass that on.
This is a great way for convincing Daily Show fans to endorse Obama. Later we can develop a strategy for getting daily church-goers to endorse Jesus. Despite all this, 50 million Americans are going to pull the lever for McCain and Palin.
Large sections of the electorate don’t care about “issues”, or even know what “issues” are. They don’t know what party their Congressman is in. They vote for Bush because they don’t think he thinks he’s smarter than them, or because their pastor or favorite radio host told them to, or because they think terrorists are planning to steal their beanie baby collection, or because their friend emailed them something which upset them, or something along those lines. They could vote for Obama or McCain for similarly empty reasons. They don’t find politics interesting. But they vote. A useful way to convince these people, when you meet them on the bus, or family functions, on line at the grocery store, etc., is not to show them the political nerd’s favorite comedy show, because they don’t know what the fuck that is. You have to tell them something that makes sense to them: “he’s angry,” “she’s mean,” “he’s hopeful”, “he’s elitist”. These folks vote, which is why politicians are always talking to them, but their reasons for doing things are insane, which is why are politics are so stupid. Framing which appeals to them, or some of them, while stupid, is potentially useful.
September 4, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Please, to not be violating Snacky’s Law http://wiki.fandomwank.com/index.php/Snacky's_Law
September 4, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Eds: Oh you mean *those* people?
This:
…is how you motivate *those* people. She can’t *both* play mean girl *and* look ready to run the country.
September 4, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Presumably you mean the opposite – something like “one can’t be mean and incompetent”? If so:
There is no one magical way of motivating *those* people, because as individuals they respond to different messages. Pro-Bush media, partisans and political operatives played up terrorism in 2004, *and also* made sure that everybody was worried about gay marriage, *and* called John Kerry a traitor *and* elitist *and* unChristian *and* someone who faked his war wounds *and* six other flavors of jerkoff. Strangely, despite this muddled message, they won. So, on reflection, it is perhaps quite possible to say multiple things after all.
September 4, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Sarah Palin is being set up as a young female, with very young female children, being bruised and bandaged by the media.
Hence, “Pit bull with lipstick.”
Not sure I’m seeing this the same way.
September 4, 2008 at 3:18 pm
The more they put her in the forefront, the more tiresome she’ll become—to all who are at least marginally sane. So I guess I’m saying that it’s a mistake to focus too much on her. She’ll prove quite adept at repulsing all but the most hopeless of wingnuts and other morons.
Pitbull with lipstick? More like attack poodle.
September 4, 2008 at 3:22 pm
What happens when McCain croaks and it’s the Hockey Mom representin’ against — oh, I dunno — Hu Jintau, Hugo Chavez, Raul Castro?
The rest of the world already has had tremendous experience dealing with our slightly askew presidents — although no two askew presidents are ever askew in the same way. It’s the US that doesn’t know how to deal with its presidential wankers,* unless it actually involves wanking, in which case they get impeached.
*Or even how to stop electing them in the first place.
September 4, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Eds: No, I didn’t mean the opposite, I meant just what I said. The Dems need a way to prevent her from continuing the mudslinging and yet not being held accountable for it, because she’s also the “ordinary mum” with a “regular person’s flaws”. If the Dems push the FEAR angle, she will be forced to try to look presidential. And Obama and Biden can beat her at that game, I think. There’s no need to call her “mean” to make her look inadequate there.
September 4, 2008 at 3:41 pm
The McCain campaign messed up big time with the Palin-as-attack-dog approach to her speech last night.
She was already chosen to appease the far right wing of the Republicans. But then they had her rip into the red meat like some kind of female Zell Miller. Trouble is, pandering to the 27 percenters limits any wider appeal.
What she needed to to was introduce herself to the nation not only as a Veep but as a plausible President and CiC, ready for the Oval Office. She not only came across as personally unlikeable and arrogant, but in the context as running mate to 72-year-old cancer survivor, she came across as dangerous.
Also, you can’t lie that artlessly in your introductory speech to the nation. Brazenness pisses off a lot of people, and those lies are coming back to bite her.
September 4, 2008 at 3:49 pm
http://img361.imageshack.us/my.php?image=juneauiu2.jpg
September 4, 2008 at 4:01 pm
they simply don’t help build the case against Palin and McCain (though they do put a finger on why so many women have a visceral, negative reaction to Gov. Palin).
The first half of this sentence needs to sit down and have a talk with the second half.
September 4, 2008 at 4:17 pm
cartesian – I guess your objection is that you wouldn’t use this strategy in your ‘fantasy football’ Obama campaign. But no one here is really running the Obama campaign. And the McCain campaign isn’t going to develop counter strategies in response to anything we say here. We (well, I – other people can talk about whatever they want) am trying to think up ways that regular people can effectively get across the point to people who aren’t politics nerds that McCain/Palin is yucky. There’s no need for message discipline in this.
September 4, 2008 at 4:26 pm
The Republican party is playing on two very powerful resentments. Lemme ‘splain.
A lot, thousands, maybe millions of households have had to downscale their lifestyles. Stores like Macy’s and Target have been losing money during this economic depression. But discounter like Walmart are booming, and have been booming for almost a year.
Imagine you have been comfortably middle class for the past 10 years and now all of a sudden you are spending hours, every week, with, well, rednecks. All kinds of rednecks. Imagine it’s 5PM and you are stopping to buy something for supper. Blam! You are forced to get in line with single mothers with babies, Mexican laborers who are dusty and sweaty after working all day, convenience store nobodys blabbing on their cellphones. The overhead announcements are making you deaf and the TV next to the checkout stand is pounding out some horror by Cher. Worse, all these people think you, you! are just like them. And you are. And I am.
Republicans have been bitching to high heaven the past week about “sexism”. Who they are talking to is that formerly middle class woman holding on to a frozen Lean Cuisine and all the other people standing in line at Walmart. Just like me. This, ladies and germs, is class and cultural warfare.
Pat Buchanen must be turning in his grave.
September 4, 2008 at 4:35 pm
OK, well, try not to look like a pussy then.
I still think you should tell the ‘folk’ that she is dishonest (with her attacks and about her resume), that the Republican establishment loves her so she ain’t no change, and that she simply can’t be trusted with the keys to the White House if Old Man McCain croaks and Al Qaeda come calling. Look how far Bush got in over his head, bless him.
September 4, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Cartesian, do you ever actually talk about politics with people who aren’t progressive political junkies like us?
The stuff you’re saying, their eyes will jsut glaze over … if you even say it, which you won’t, cause you want to make friends and impress people and not bore the living shit out of them.
Whereas — and I can tell you this from direct experience — stuff about Palin’s family and personality scores points even with people who could give two fucks about politics and might well even vote R. I.e. the people we want to reach here.
September 4, 2008 at 4:53 pm
…what I *meant to say*, of course, was “Good luck navigating the fine line between pussy and a**hole then!”
September 4, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Lemuel: Oh and I guess you knew exactly how to turn the masses against the mean girls at high school huh? You can’t win that fight.
September 4, 2008 at 5:20 pm
It is too long to post here, but I wanted to share my excitement over having just been forwarded an anti-Palin email. This is some ratfucking I can believe in, my friends.
It may fall short by sticking to the truth, but that is probably good enough.
September 4, 2008 at 5:31 pm
If you know the “mean girls” thing won’t work with certain people, don’t go that route with those people, but there are a lot of people it will resonate with. Horses for courses.
September 4, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Lemuel: Oh and I guess you knew exactly how to turn the masses against the mean girls at high school huh? You can’t win that fight.
No, what I know is that I have talked to half a dozen actual human beings in the past week who are not Democrats or especially political but do vote, and who have zero interest in a political lecture from me (or you) but who are very interested in gossip about Palin’s personality and family. And they end up liking her a lot less.
That’s my experience. Yours may vary. But don’t tell me the mean-girls line doesn’t play with some people, because I know first-hand that it does.
September 4, 2008 at 6:27 pm
[...] even more. Having sworn off Slate, I’d likely have never seen this if it weren’t for The Editors over at The Poor Man [...]
September 4, 2008 at 7:06 pm
It’s hard to change the minds of those who are just looking for a reason to vote against Obama. But, if you were to, there is no general strategy, this requires handwritten e-mails, phone calls, communications that are highly tailored and specific to your target. When playing on the microdemographic playing field of door-to-door, there are no general rules of pre-persuasion, it’s case by case. I suggest you watch The Pick-up Artist with Mystery on VH-1. Not.
I am a Robot.
September 4, 2008 at 7:11 pm
Find out what they value and weave your speil/schpeel around that. The same rules for selling meat door-to-door apply. If you aren’t charming or brave, stay the fuck home and make phone calls. Psyche, get charming and brave, no one stays home.
September 4, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Take it easy, Duck.
September 4, 2008 at 7:28 pm
She’s a horrible person who thinks that no woman, regardless of circumstances, should have access to a safe abortion; she’s a stupid person who thinks that the story of Genesis is real; she’s also a liar who has abused her power as governor. I have no problem with telling everyone I know that.
Fuck that rat!
September 4, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Hey, Palin insulted “community organizers” by saying that they aren’t as good as government officials.
I imagine the Democrats will seize on that and worry it like a pit bull, because, really, that was just insulting to everybody who has a soul.
By the way, has this blog always been so concerned about strategy and message? These “how can we convince the rubes?” discussions always remind me of the robot from Futurama that was programmed to underestimate Middle America.
Sure, we may like calling her a mean girl, but will it get them off their tractors?
September 4, 2008 at 11:01 pm
Sarah Palin raised taxes, wants DC to control your body, wants to toss out science after the 18th century like HBombs, Lasers and Internet Porn.
AND forced her daughter to marry a statutory rapist.
September 4, 2008 at 11:17 pm
What’s the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull?
Pit bulls don’t keep talking about how their perfect family is better than yours, because they don’t think they’re better than you, because pit bulls aren’t holier-than-thou snobs.
September 5, 2008 at 5:02 am
…trying to think up ways that regular people can effectively get across the point to people who aren’t politics nerds that McCain/Palin is yucky
Easy:
What’s the difference between Sarah Palin and George W. Bush?
Lipstick.
(Not my original thought, but from the comments on Sadly, No!)
September 5, 2008 at 6:26 am
>Do you think she thinks she’s better than you? She’s probably looking down her plastic-surgeried nose right now
She’s definitely looking down on Chris Matthews, just like Chris said Hill did to poor widdle Chrissy.
September 5, 2008 at 7:15 am
Here’s another one: Sarah Palin — Harper Valley hypocrite.
(For those of you who may have blocked this song from your memory in favor of the Gert Jonnys’ venture into prog rock, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn4-2qMErgM )
September 5, 2008 at 8:16 am
Nobody’s mentioned that Governor Palin, under her nom de Plume, Tina Fey, wrote the screenplay for Mean Girls?
September 6, 2008 at 10:25 am
She’s not just a mean girl, but a small town mean girl — the worst of the type.
I went to high school in a small western town myself — Rock Springs, Wyo. At around 30,000, it certainly dwarfs Wasilla, but it’s no less barren and depressing. Richard Ford used it as the backdrop for one of his short stories.
I knew quite a few Palin’s in my high school. They lettered in at least two sports, ran student council, dated the star male athletes, barely made 3.5 GPA (by avoiding hard science classes) to get on the honor roll, etc.
Most went to the state university in Laramie, or maybe ventured outside the state to Utah for their undergrad. One or two even went east to an Ivy Leaguish school.
And then, they went back to Rock Springs, to run a business, or teach English at their own high school. I assume they’ll also run for local office there sooner or later. Ambition tempered by extreme insecurity.
Their not all bad people, and I feel sorry for them, for having so much unrealized potential. But the idea that any of these women — or their male counterparts whose lives have followed the same pattern — might someday be running the country is something I still can’t fathom, even after the events of the past week.