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Sarah Palin’s Seized And Perhaps Lost Opportunities

September 4th, 2008
By JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief

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The old and new media are flooded with reactions to GOP Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech last night. Here are links to four of the most intriguing posts:

1. The conventional wisdom is that she hit a home run. But did she also miss an important opportunity that was there to be seized? Read Talk Left’s Big Tent Democrat, one of the most perceptive progressive bloggers, who supported Hillary Clinton. As always, he’s a must read for everyone, no matter what party.

2. Could Palin distract the Democrats? Read Ross Douthat’s free advice for Democrats.

3. Is September Palin’s month? Marc Ambinder says and thinks she could overshadow everyone — and even Obama to the point where it hurts the Democratic ticket.

4. Was Palin’s performance the supreme triumph of style and symbolism? Dick Polman has some thoughts and thinks Democrats should beware (and perhaps not buy furniture for the Oval Office just yet…)

5. What’s the bottom line reality? My DD’s Jerome Armstrong says Democrats better get ready to battle Palin for a long time to come…

My reaction? I’m still sorting it out since I didn’t see the speech but heard it on my car radio. My initial reaction is that as an independent voter who supported the 2000 version of McCain — and all of the elements that lamentably since-recalled-from-circulation version entailed — and as a California independent voter who voted for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the sarcasm and red meat the Republicans so love turned me off. I didn’t hear specifics on issues such as the economy. Palin’s lively and well-delivered speech offered little to appeal to independent voters, moderates or voters who are center to center left on some issues.

It was red meat and definitely solidifies John McCain’s Republican base…which gets me back to the question I posed earlier: is McCain going to opt for a campaign to try and bring in the center and independents, or go with one more campaign that requires firing up the base with us versus them campaigning and get a 50 + 1 victory…which will make governance again difficult due to a polarized nation? The politics of polarization that displaced consensus politics shows no signs of abating as we move into the 21st century.



This entry was posted on Thursday, September 4th, 2008 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Democratic Party, Republican Party, Newsweek Blogitics, Sarah Palin, John McCain, Barack Obama, 2008 Elections, Democrats, Republicans, Politics. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Viewing 29 Comments

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    Daniel Larison, a writer for The American Conservative magazine, thinks conservatives are falling into a trap:

    With all respect to Gov. Palin, who delivered an effective stemwinder that had a number of amusing lines in it, the conditioned responses that conservatives are having to Palin’s speech is frankly depressing. For all of their complaints and criticisms about McCain’s deviations, conservatives are now falling into line even more pathetically than usual.


    As they say on the internet, read the whole thing.
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    She does seem to be getting a tad more press coverage these days than old what's his name..?...oh yes...Obama...

    I wonder if he's getting jealous? To quote sexists, "Looks like we may have a cat fight on our hands"....lol...

    The thing about Palin is she does circles around Obama in the "tough" arena. If I had to pick one to square off with Putin, for instance, Palin would be my choice between the two.

    Meanwhile, Obama sits strategically quiet, just like when Hillary was getting raked over the coals for being female and daring to hold high office. His silence is screaming. Of course he's in a bit of a bind though. If he chooses to defend the attacks on Palin, it looks like he's endorsing her. If he chooses to join in the attacks on Palin, it looks like he's a sexist and will therefore alienate all those votes that will tip the scale. If he remains quiet about the whole affair, he looks impotent and risks shrinking back even further as "a man of inaction" in the eyes of the world..

    What to do? What to do?

    I offered the remedy before. The majority of americans are anti BigOil and pro-alternatives that don't cause greenhouse problems, (like all fossil fuels including natural gas), that are safe, (not like nuclear) and that are sustainable (like solar, hydro, wind, hydrogen and geothermal). Americans know the 21st Century overhaul of old energy technology means scads more new jobs. They know scads more new jobs means a boost to the economy, and the preservation of american $$ that might otherwise go to the Middle East in oil purchases. They know a boost to the economy means stabilization, prosperity and well-being.

    Ignore the TV commercials BigOil is pumping out....including the T Boone PIckens ads...the loveable old fart who wants to still drill and use the other greenhouse gas: natural gas..., the commercials about "safe" nuclear reactors (terrorists, mark your maps) to run mere steam turbines.."clean" coal...yeah, clean coal....that belches out up to 80% more greenhouse gas into the atmosphere than petrolium combustion..

    We could, if we wanted to, in a pinch, like the one we're in with global warming, that isn't a myth but an icecap-melting stark fact, rapidly implement alternatives to carbon-spewing gases and coals in a heartbeat. If it was a matter of national security, which it is, we could turn the boat around overnight. BigOil wants you to think the task is hard, that it will "take a lot of time". The facts are that it won't if we make up our minds to have it quickly. Getting us to be discouraged and slowly make a transition is getting us be complacent again. That's why gas prices are falling...to lull us into a false sense of security..

    If I was Obama, I'd wait for the dust to settle after the debut of the untouchable Palin (Obama, even your surrogates won't do because everyone knows by now that they reflect your offscreen opinions). Then flatly ignore her as anything at all and let Biden deal with her one-on-one...qualification to qualification. The queen always beats the king in chess. Let your bishop go after her. Then go after BigOil and alternatives thereto like a pit-bull on steroids; go after the very foundation of the GOP platform and watch their ticket tumble.

    You've got this one pivot of leverage where others are shut down to you Obamabots. Let's see what you do with it..
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    I agree with Silhouette. The Democrats have an advantage on energy. I hope they're smart enough to make the case.

    But I disagree about comparison of politics to chess.

    After all, chess has rules.
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    The issue for Palin will be how she performs after the RNC. Clearly she can give a good speech. But, as Joe pointed out, she looks as empty on substance as she did when first selected. She looks even LESS qualified for the VP job now that she missed a big opportunity to show herself as a serious person and not somebody for talk radio.

    This was true for Obama too. The speeches were great - far more inspirational than Palin's drivel (but hey, Palin didn't write the speech). It was the small-scale events where he answered voters' questions that won over the voters. It was his campaigning in Iowa that put him where he is, not a few speeches.
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    She didn't get anything close to a home run.. tho she does get a base hit for pronouncing nuclear right... I broke the whole speech down over at http://www.debatetherace08.com with what she SHOULD have said.. but I guess the truth is too much of a stretch for these republicans.
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    Don't worry. Palin will win them over too. Disarming charm should't be the thing we vote for. It should be issues with substance.

    The american public is tiring of empty rhetoric, meaningless handshakes and toothy smiles. We are broke, BigOil is out of control and our weather is freakish and scary...and wars loom abroad. Moreover, we know that all those woes are linked by one common thread: our irresponsible reliance on fossil fuels.

    The turning point of this election will be addressing this tired and cynical voter base where they really care. Everyone I know is snapping off their TV sets. It was fun watching Obama mimic the "i have a dream" thing...but now the confetti has been swept away and all we're left with is some BS glamour contest between the two prima-donnas. "Disgusted" is a word that doesn't begin to sum up what the american public is with this campaign.
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    Elrod,

    Short term memory loss?

    Obama didn’t get near the press for interviews in his entire campaign. The press mentioned that fact numerous times, but apparently you missed it.

    Do you believe Obama wrote his convention speech on the back of an envelope on the way to the stadium?

    When Barak is not behind a teleprompter, he’s a stumbling, unsure bundle of ummms and ahhhs. I know the mind likes to block out unpleasant experiences, but Saddleback still happened.

    Panic tends to cloud the mind.
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    Yes when America gets to know more about her and how her only policy differences from Bush is that she more strongly supports Creationism and anti-Choice policies, the independents will warn right up. As Sil said, we are broke, so there is no more important way to show leadership than bashing Barack Obama and the media. That puts food on the table.

    Seriously, I'm feeling very comfortable (not quite cocky, though) any other year, those sorts of identity politics would make it a done deal. People are scared, they're dealing with the repercussions of not looking at the fine print (Bush, mortgage crisis, gassing up the SUV), they're going to look closely to see what's in it for them. McCain needs substance tonight. "Hey, who ya gonna trust?" is not a winning slogan this year.
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    I'm not unbiased, but my perception is that the entire evening, capped by Palin's speech, was way over the top. Not for the Republican base mind you, but for the other 80% of America.

    Palin's speech suffered from what preceded it. The billionaire former governor of Massachusetts decrying East Coast elitists in one of the worst political speeches of the election season... The former mayor (and occasional cross dresser) of New York City whining about cosmopolitanism... And the fact that Giulliani stepped on the bio video that would have helped soften Palin's image before she launched into petty, snarky and blatently bald lies and distortions about the Democratic ticket and her own record. And why was a four month old Down Syndrome infant being passed around in that hall?

    I have to say, it's exactly what I expected of them. It's the same old movie, trotted out every four years by the Republican Party, just with a different narrator. No policy, no ideas, just attacks.

    And my friends, that's not change we can believe in.