All-purpose Palin interview answer

That is kind of a bummer, and I do feel bad for you, Rod. I noticed that Michelle McGinty is completely silent about Sarah Palin for the past couple days.

If anybody should be apologizing, it should be Palin to McCain, not the other way around.

McCain made the call. I suspect he's planning to use her as a scapegoat on Nov. 5.

Huh. Somehow I doubt that Palin's destroyed. Of course she turned out to be less than perfect, unlike, uhhhh, unlike, uhhhh -- well, who did you have in mind? Romney, perhaps?

Pawlenty. He's not as "exciting" as Palin, but a sound veep pick would have enhanced McCain's image as the "safe" candidate. Now he's making Obama look like the safer of the two.

I really don't think there's ANY conservative you won't ultimately turn against, Rod, for failing to be perfect.

Yep, 'cause, you know, being a Vice-President is SO MUCH MORE DIFFICULT than being a powerful State Governor. With all those Senate sessions, I mean. Reeeeeeeeeally haaaaaaaaaaaaard, beyond any normal person's "competence"...

She has "visceral appeal". Is that some kind of cover-word for "she looks hot?"

It's a tragi-comic moment watching all the bloodthirsty Palin supporters jumping ship as the painful reality sinks home. Her sterling Conservative credentials aside, we don't need the nation being run by a "Lancôme rep who thinks “The Flintstones” was based on a true story."

(I credit Aaron Sorkin with the quote.)

Cool. Without checking on the Internet, name Michael Dukakis' running mate?

Some forgotten chump, who went on to be chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, and Secretary of the Treasury. What a waste...

Or, better yet, name Bob Dole's running mate from 1996.

I think you'll find most conservatives with a few neurons will remember him as the most prominent and articulate of Reagan's allies in Congress in the pre-Gingrich era.

Or Barry Goldwater's running mate.

Oh there you have us. He did become a footnote, and a trivia answer (Q: who was the only Catholic nominated by the GOP for national office?)

Cool. Without checking on the Internet, name Michael Dukakis' running mate? Or, better yet, name Bob Dole's running mate from 1996. Or Barry Goldwater's running mate.

OK, without checking the Internet:

Michael Dukakis' running mate was Sen. Lloyd Bentsen of Texas (best remembered for his "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy!" quip to Dan Quayle in the vice-presidential debate). I think he was also Clinton's first secretary of the treasury. Or am I misremembering that?

Bob Dole's running mate was Jack Kemp. (I remember the issue of Time Magazine that came out just after the Kemp pick was announced. It was the same week they ran the story about possibly finding microbial fossils in meteorites that had originated on Mars. They ran a cover picture of Dole and Kemp, but had a plug for the other story as well, so you had the humorous juxtaposition of a picture of Dole and Kemp under a title heading "Life on Mars?" ;-) )

I think Goldwater's running mate was named Miller, though I can't remember his first name. Unless I'm mistaken, I think his daughter Stephanie Miller had a short-lived syndicated late-night talk show in the mid-90s.

I really have no life. I live for unmarketable trivia!

She has "visceral appeal". Is that some kind of cover-word for "she looks hot?"

Yeah, I think most of her appeal is aimed a few inches south of the viscera.

And if that's sexist, then explain why her supporters have played up the "beauty queen" angle?

Here's one of my favorite Palin stories:

When Sarah Palin Met Ivana Trump

"Sarah Palin, a commercial fisherman from Wasilla, told her husband on Tuesday she was driving to Anchorage to shop at Costco. Instead, she headed straight for Ivana. And there, at J.C. Penney's cosmetic department, was Ivana, the former Mrs. Donald Trump, sitting at a table next to a photograph of herself. She wore a light-colored pantsuit and pink fingernail polish. Her blonde hair was coiffed in a bouffant French twist. 'We want to see Ivana,'' said Palin, who admittedly smells like salmon for a large part of the summer, ''because we are so desperate in Alaska for any semblance of glamour and culture.'"

http://www.eandppub.com/2008/09/when-sarah-pali.html

Come on, how could anyone have continued to believe this woman was the real deal after reading this a couple of weeks ago? There has never been a single credible reason offered to support her candidacy, here or anywhere else. Maybe she's a good person; I have no way of knowing, and the willingness to give birth a Down's Syndrome baby doesn't alone make anyone a "good person" in my book.

The poor woman seized McCain's offer because she wanted a shot at some big time Ivana glamour. Well, I think Sarah might have gotten a little more than she bargained for.

Doug

Rod tends to spook easy is all.

Lisa:

It's not about being good at speaking on TV. It's about knowing what you're talking about. Her comments on Russia are a joke. I could give a more in-depth answer about the sources of the problems NATO faces in Afghanistan than she did, and I'm less than half her age. She said nothing meaningful on the financial crisis. She did nothing but repeat talking points. At a few points in the interview, she seemed to have lost her focus utterly and just started babbling before she slowed down and tried to put things together again.

I don't expect a presidential or VP nominee to be superhuman. I do expect them to understand the issues they'll be dealing with better than the average layperson does. My first instinct was to like Palin - in Alaska she was willing to stand up to her own party, and transfer money from the oil companies to the people of Alaska - the kind of stuff that's the essence of a populist conservatism, and the kind of platform the GOP could have rebuilt itself on. But the McCain campaign has been ignoring that tax (because they can't dilute the "taxes are always bad" message) even though it's one of her biggest accomplishments and biggest assets and 99% of Americans would agree with it. The campaign's been ignoring the fact that she actually did hold talks on several occasion with one of the Canadian premiers (our equivalent to governors) in favour of 'Alaska is close to Russia!'. And she has shown in this interview that she doesn't come close to understanding the issues she would have to deal with as VP.

It was so bad I have to wonder if it was intentional, if this is a massive bait-and-switch to have her go into the debates with very low expectations and outperform them.

I'd like to associate myself with Anonny's excellent post on the other Palin thread:

"Now is a time for Republicans to accept an Obama/Biden presidency and resolve to fight to win seats back in 2010 and the Presidency back in 2012. Despite what the hysterics say, Obama is not a muslim, he is an American centrist on economic and foreign policy matters and center-left on social matters. Biden is the same. Both are competent consensus builders, and even if you don't agree with their politics, both are the type of people who lead well in emergencies. McCain, perhaps due to an age-related condition, is now completely self-centered and random in behavior, even worse under stress, while Palin could seriously lead America to the apocalypse -- she's that dumb and crazy (in the extreme religious sense). For the good of America, Republicans, find a way to lose gracefully this fall, regroup, and fight back with some serious leaders. This is what democracy is about."

Was it Twain who said "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubts."?

That applies to both of the McCain/Palin team. The less they say, the more I like 'em.

I was, not to put too fine a point on it, genuinely creeped out by McCain's choice of Palin, because it seemed so utterly manipulative and insulting to my intelligence as a voter. Then, in the days to follow, I was equally creeped out by the liberal media's sheer nastiness towards this woman and her family.

I have been so creeped out I may have to opt out of this election. If only I could get my skin to stop crawling. . .

(Actually, I may have just answered my own dilemma about whom to vote for.)

Am I the only one to feel there aren't enough choices? Heck, you can get a dozen different kinds of milk at the grocery store, but only a few choices for president??? Something's not right.

P.S. I love the Twain quote, Chris.

Boy, why all the sad faces. She has good instincts (proven from her record), which is more than you can say about almost all GOP leaders since Reagan.

So she did not know the answer to the gotcha left-leaning media. So what? Her character is what counts, not her policy knowledge. We don't need any more policy wonks and others who get A+ on the political science exams...

I hope nobody asks Palin to do a quadruple heart bypass.

She'd probably say 'yes' to that. Mustn't blink, after all.

"In other words, to write off her future, even if you don't like her, is unfair."

Yeah, she might grow as a person, stop firing people for being insufficiently subservient, stop hiring inexperienced but loyal cronies, stop the constant lies, etc.

After 8 years of waiting for George W. Bush to grow up and act like a responsible, moral adult, I wouldn't bet on Palin changing.

"The world was pretty complex at that time as well, as you may recall. And, boy, was he a man of few and simple words."

Simple is one thing. Laughably ignorant and incoherent are something else entirely, and Truman certainly wasn't ignorant or incoherent. In the recording, he sounds like someone who knows what he's talking about and is prepared (though he's probably working from notes). Palin sounds like an unprepared student.

The interview you link to was held after Truman toured the US and Central America touring US military facilities. I bet they let him talk to people, which is something Palin has barely been allowed to do.

Sorry, Jon H, but "laughably ignorant and incoherent"? Can you watch all of this clip of the Couric interview (http://vodpod.com/watch/1032138-palin-and-couric) and honestly stick with that evaluation? She's certainly not "smooth" in it, but she's coherent and has something to say.

Could it be that you're a snob and that it's really her down-market accent and her "pickins" and "kindas" that get to you more than anything else?

"She's certainly not "smooth" in it, but she's coherent and has something to say.
Could it be that you're a snob and that it's really her down-market accent and her "pickins" and "kindas" that get to you more than anything else?"

Posted by: Nell | September 26, 2008 12:47 AM

Nell, thanks for posting that link. I hadn't seen the Couric interview, and had only read about it here. I just watched it, and was stunned to find that Palin didn't come across as the know-nothing idiot I just read about. I thought her answers were perfectly acceptable – if not brilliant, certainly not ridiculous – and her manner was pleasant and confident. Sure, we all know she's in over her head. But I saw nothing in that interview to suggest that she's incapable of rising to the challenge, with lots of study and hard work. And I sure didn't see a woman who's been "ruined." Rod, I think you fell too hard, too fast. Nobody could have lived up to the Palin of Your Dreams. But don't be so quick to write the lady off just because she proved to be human.

Sorry, Jon H, but "laughably ignorant and incoherent"? Can you watch all of this clip of the Couric interview (http://vodpod.com/watch/1032138-palin-and-couric) and honestly stick with that evaluation?

Yes. Yes. Yes.

She's certainly not "smooth" in it, but she's coherent and has something to say. Could it be that you're a snob and that it's really her down-market accent and her "pickins" and "kindas" that get to you more than anything else?

Posted by: Nell | September 26, 2008 12:47 AM

No. No. No.

As one who said, weeks ago, that I would blame McCain if Palin crashed and burned - which I thought she would do because I know too many people in Alaska and know what a different place it is and knew how unqualified Gov. Palin actually was to be VP - it's hard not to watch the entirety of the Palin/Couric interview and not be stunned are her ignorance (yes, ignorance) of virtually ALL policy positions. Many of her answers were incoherent (yes, incoherent). Her answer to the foreign policy question re: Russia was not only incoherent; it was laughable. I'm serious. I'm surprised Couric didn't laugh in her face.

What's scariest about Palin is that, like Bush, she's certain, regardless of whether she's right or wrong. She's not going to blink. Rather than say, "I don't know" or "I'm studying that issue", she tries to wing it, and it's embarrassing. She shows not even a perfunctory knowledge of how the world works?

It makes complete sense that the McCain campaign is trying to hide her. At this point, I'll be stunned, STUNNED, if the VP debate even takes place.

OK, let me see if I understand this: Palin says, gosh, Katie, I don't have an answer for that right off the top of my head, I'll find out and get back to you.

Biden says that in 1929 FDR addressed the nation on TV!!!!!! OMG! That's much worse than Dan Quayle not knowing how to spell potato.

And you think Palin is the dumb one???????

Actually, I don't think Biden is dumb, he just puts his mouth in gear without engaging his brain, a common problem with him.

I like the idea floated on the Sic Semper Tyrannis blog by Col Lang, retired intelligence officer. He wonders why we even have a Vice President, except that it is in the Constitution. The only duty of the Vice President is to break ties in the Senate. Could the president pro tem do that? And as far as succeeding the president, what's wrong with the Secretary of State?

I was a Ron Paul supporter so I really don't have a dog in this fight. Both parties' foreign policies, economic ideas, stuff like that--equally bad in my view. However, due to 1) abortion and 2) the way Palin as been treated by the media and lefy blogs everywhere, I am voting McCain/Palin as the less bad ticket. I don't expect them to win due to the economy thing. I don't expect Obama to be able to get us out of the mess we are in. He might even be a one termer, as McCain almost certainly would be if he does win. Maybe 2012 will shape up better.

OK, if the Republicans go down in flames this year, who would you like to see run in 2012? If Palin matures as a public figure, gets more adept at dealing with gotcha media types, etc., could she have a role? Maybe Jindal? Just wondering... and if McCain pulls it off, will we see Hillary run again in 2012????

I am not going to stay awake at night worrying because somebody doesn't come across well in interviews. I don't think Reagan did particularly well in interviews or press conferences, but he was still a good president, maybe even great if you give him large credit for the fall of communism, as I do (along with Gorbachev and Pope JPII, as well).

Yes, you are absolutely right -- coherent and even persuasive speech is an important part of the job, and I'm sorry if I underrated it. It does matter.

But even if you give that it is 30% of the job (surely knowing what you want to persuade people to do should take more brain space than figuring out how to persuade them), it constitutes 80% of politicking. And because we are so concerned about getting the kind of smooth answers we see from scripted actors and long successful spin artists on TV, sincere extemporaneous speaking is near dead in our public discourse. Everything is talking points, everything is rhetoric (in the bad sense of the word), everything is about style instead of substance. So Palin follows the rules, and she does it very, very badly. If she tried to talk like a real person would talk, she might make a lot more sense -- but that would torpedo her immediately. No one talks on TV like you do in your living room (or at a diplomatic summit, or to a Senator in your office, etc.). If we let her talk naturally, she might make no sense at all then, either. I'm just saying, we'll never know as long as she's running for office whether she's smart enough or not. Guys that look smart can be slick and heavily advised. Guys that look dumb might just have bad PR teams. It's a fault in the system that makes it reasonable for people to vote issues instead of personality or character, as dull as that is -- or even makes it understandable when people don't vote at all.

Col. Lang's idea about getting rid of the VP is just that, an idea. I am loathe to amend the Constitution so I don't know that I'd favor it. It does seem that Constitutionally at least, the VP has little to do and should spend it reading up on stuff and shadowing the Prez in case he/she has to take over.

However, I don't want to see anymore Dick Cheney type VP's that's for sure! That's a little too much hands on for me!

I also think that unlike Palin, the similarly inexperienced and resume-thin Obama is an effective communicator. I thought his speech at the Democratic National Convention was inspiring. But what did he say? I couldn't tell you now, a month later. We need change. We need a lot of stuff done that's going to cost a lot of money, and the government is going to do it for you. I am just as dedicated to being Team America World Police as McCain. Well, ok. Here we are. Neither presidential candidate seems to really have a plan for the economic mess. Obama even says he might to put his grand plans on hold due to the mess.

How about a bumper sticker that says "We're Screwed '08.

The other thing that bugs me is that for years Ron Paul has said that our financial markets and system are on shaky ground and everyone acted like he was some sort of kook or something.

All you people who didn't vote for my man Ron, you have no one to blame but yourselves ;->