Songs of Innocence, Dirges of Experience
I’m going to take a break from the horror of the market and return to an old, sore subject.
As everyone who reads this blog regularly knows, I responded pretty enthusiastically to the Palin nomination in its first minutes. This in spite of the fact that I’m not a “social issues” voter as such and in spite of the fact that I was already finding it very hard to see voting for McCain for pretty much the opposite of the reasons why the stereotypical Palin voter was finding it hard to warm to McCain. And, honestly, I didn’t know that much about her. But what I knew, I liked. My impression of her Alaska record was that she came from the far-right to govern from something more like the center-right (or, perhaps, the “radical center”), and that she had a record of looking after the interests of Alaskans (making sure they got a better deal on a pipeline project, primarily) that spoke well of her and that would reinforce a key message of the McCain campaign. I thought she was a great choice for symbolic, narrative reasons, and McCain got exactly the boost I expected from the pick. And I thought McCain would use her to do three things: to excite the social-conservative base; to reach out to women (not on the assumption that women would be excited just because a woman was running, but on the assumption that there was some substance behind the “pro-life feminist” label and that therefore Palin could speak intelligently to women about so-called women’s issues in a way that McCain never could); and to flesh out the campaign substantively and rhetorically on kitchen-table issues where it has had nearly nothing to say so far.
From the beginning, I thought she was unqualified to be President from day one. But I wasn’t enormously worried about that fact – on the assumption that she was going to be able to speak intelligently on a narrow range of issues, that she was going to be trained up to be ready, and that McCain really was very unlikely to die immediately upon assuming office. And I think I was consistent in my lack of concern for her length of experience in government. I didn’t view Obama’s own limited experience as disqualifying. Moreover, I thought he should pick someone with relatively limited experience to be his running mate: my first choice was first-term Senator Jim Webb, and when he took himself out of the running my second choice was first-term Governor Brian Schweitzer. I didn’t like Tim Kaine because I didn’t like Tim Kaine, not because I thought he was too inexperienced to be Obama’s running mate. And my preferred choices for Obama were also consistent with my interest in Palin: I was thinking about narrative reinforcement, about personal qualities, and about demographic balancing, much more than I was thinking about Washington experience. That doesn’t mean I think experience is irrelevant; all things being equal, I’d rather have a nominee who’s had substantial and successful executive experience than someone who hasn’t had that experience. But “successful” is key, and even successful executives can flop politically on the national stage (e.g., Tommy Thompson). If there were an obvious “experience” candidate of the caliber of a Reagan, an Eisenhower, or an FDR, that person would have been the nominee.
But now I have more . . . experience with Governor Palin. And pretty much everything she has said or done since her appearance on the national stage – beginning with her acceptance speech – has soured me on her. It’s decreasingly plausible to me that she’s who I thought she was when she was nominated. Based on her performance on the campaign trail so far, she’s a shallow and demagogic politician. And if, on the off chance, that’s not who she is, then it’s instructive that the McCain campaign seems to be eager to have her play this particular character.
She’s still not a terribly crucial factor in my decisionmaking about this election. But she’s a negative factor for McCain in my mind. This is not a new conclusion for me; I started trending in this direction, as I say, within a few days of the announcement of her nomination. I probably would have trended faster were it not for, well, the sort of coverage Alex Massie describes here. But, you know, my opinion of the coverage shouldn’t determine my opinion of the candidate. And, in the end, it doesn’t.
“my opinion of the coverage shouldn’t determine my opinion of the candidate”— please share this eminently reasonable insight with certain other TAS bloggers. (I guess you just have, but it could use underlining.)
— matt · Sep 17, 11:51 PM · #
I’ll step up and defend Sarah:
“And if, on the off chance, that’s not who she is, then it’s instructive that the McCain campaign seems to be eager to have her play this particular character.”
I think this is the most plausible explanation for Palin’s demagogic turn. Maybe she agreed to a Faustian bargain with the McCain camp as part and parcel of being chosen, but would you really expect an ambitious, talented politician to do otherwise?
She does boast some genuine accomplishments in office, and I really don’t expect a newly-minted governor of Alaska to develop fully-formed opinions on issues like national security. The danger, in my mind, is not that Palin is a closet demagogue/culture warrior. Instead, I worry that she’ll go from parroting McCain’s worst talking points for expediency’s sake to actually believing in them.
— Will · Sep 17, 11:53 PM · #
I’ve read several disappointed reactions to her Convention speech, but I didn’t see how it was any different from any other Convention speech in recent elections. The VP candidate generally gives a speech that talks up the Nominee and goes after the opposing Nominee; that’s what she did. I don’t think any reasonable observer would, reading the texts, find her speech significantly more negative than Joe Biden’s.
— Ryan · Sep 18, 01:14 AM · #
hooray for the sanity of this post!
— on the other hand · Sep 18, 01:21 AM · #
Noah, she is a demagogue, pure and simple.
The most feared and despised nightmare of the Founders, the thing that Jefferson and the l33ts that designed this splendid country sought to protect us from with the device of the electoral college.
Her only qualification for office is popularity with the middleclass.
— matoko_chan · Sep 18, 01:50 AM · #
I think Ms. Palin’s convention speech was ugly, delivered with mocking contempt. Just dreadful.
You can get everything you need to know by watching the Gibson interview and now the Hannity interview.
She isn’t simply not ready – she is shockingly unready.
I expect in a candidate, at a bare minimum, the ability to speak with her own voice, coherently.
She cannot.
She’ll never get an easier interview than Hannity – he was essentially a cheerleader. But she was, to me, even worse than in the Gibson interview. Frighteningly bad.
And trust me, that’s my nice version.
— William · Sep 18, 04:05 AM · #
Let’s say we’re in the middle of this very same terrible financial crisis, and the only difference is:
Sarah Palin is President.
If that doesn’t drive the point home, and scare the poop out of everyone, I don’t know what would.
— William · Sep 18, 04:15 AM · #
I think I would like this ticket better if it were Palin-McCain rather than McCain-Palin. See today’s WSJ article advising McCain to quit wasting his VP candidate. It’s a shame that Palin has to stay on message with this guy when he doesn’t have a clear idea what his message is. I’ll bet she would do a lot better without his talking points.
But either way, there is the entertainment value of watching the leftwing moonbats complain that she didn’t cut enough pork in Alaska. The reason they’re attacking her is because they’re afraid she will cut the pork and corruption that is their lifeblood.
— The Reticulator · Sep 18, 05:14 AM · #
Let’s say we’re in the middle of this very same terrible financial crisis, and the only difference is: Sarah Palin is President. If that doesn’t drive the point home, and scare the poop out of everyone, I don’t know what would.
Please give us an example of what could be scarier than the response we’re now getting from Obama.
— The Reticulator · Sep 18, 05:17 AM · #
The situation is one for concern.
On a different note, watching the press cover her reminded me of the Lilliputians exploring Gulliver. She has my sympathy.
— Julana · Sep 18, 10:58 AM · #
The SNL skit nailed it perfectly.
for those of u that havent seen it.
http://www.correntewire.com/snl_palin_and_clinton
What a thing of beauty comedy is, to condense the core truths about an indiviual into graceful humor.
— matoko_chan · Sep 18, 01:03 PM · #
I saw the skit, matoko_chan. It was funny, but even funnier is the way the moonbat left thinks it’s a distillation of what they think about her. There are some serious arguments against Sarah Palin, but the left is so occupied in throwing everything it’s got against her that it doesn’t even know when it’s making a legitimate point. The solid points of concern are hidden in all the froth.
— The Reticulator · Sep 18, 01:27 PM · #
What continues to gnaw at me is the fact that conservatives who complained about liberals being overconfident early in the campaign then turned around and started acting as if the show was over in the first week of September. Well, lookie here, a lead for Obama. Palin’s favorability plunging. Times change.
— Freddie · Sep 18, 02:15 PM · #
HANNITY: One last question that I didn’t ask you: Did you watch Tina Fey on “Saturday Night Live”?
PALIN: I watched with the volume all the way down and I thought it was hilarious, she was spot on.
— William · Sep 18, 03:03 PM · #
Oh, I’m feeling mischievous.
Freddie, “Who, in particular? Can you provide links?”
— Blar · Sep 18, 03:14 PM · #
“i watched with the volume all the way down?”
wtf
is Palin really that stupid? that she thinks she can get comedy without soundtrack?
tell me, is she planning on turning down the volume on ‘Nejad and Putin and Chavez?
the job description for VP is to be ready to serve on day one.
NO ONE thinks that of Palin, not even McCain.
He talks about “getting her up to speed” on the UN and foreign policy.
she shud get up to speed on her own time.
otherwise, shes a demagogue, a candidate with only personal popularity to reccommend her.
and absolutely nothing else.
lol, who would Jefferson have voted for?
— matoko_chan · Sep 18, 07:25 PM · #
Here’s one, Blar. There are many more, if you’d like.
http://meganmcardle.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/09/bittersweet_moments.php
— Freddie · Sep 19, 12:55 AM · #
Freddie, I was anticipating that you had many comments that read, effectively: “The convention and the news of Gov. Palin have given McCain’s campaign momentum, and while momentum is an ephemeral thing, it shows that Obama will have a tougher time winning than many people thought.” I read this basic idea many times—your McCardle post is an example—and it has the benefit of being true. It is also not an example of overconfidence, like you claim. McCardle, for example, says “this is just a post-convention bump,” and I can’t think of anyone who wasn’t at best cautiously optimistic about the McCain boost. That it’s a “damn big bump” is an indication that the race had tightened considerably, not that a McCain victory was assured. And though polls have swung slightly in Obama’s favor, it’s still a close race.
— Blar · Sep 19, 05:33 AM · #
Bush with a vagina. That’s about it
— tg · Sep 19, 11:45 AM · #
I’m glad you’ve woken up from your slumber, but I don’t understand why this isn’t a more significant issue in choosing whom to vote for. The vice presidential pick is the biggest test of a candidate’s judgment before election day. Obama chose Biden. He passed. McCain chose Palin. He failed.
— Howard, NYC · Sep 19, 12:04 PM · #
I’ve been in a funk all week. A dear friend was indicted for embezzling funds from his company. However, the end of the week brought good news! James (not his real name) was embarking on a not altogether novel approach to his legal travails. He announced to the court neither he nor anyone else they sought to speak to was participating in the trial. They wouldn’t attend any functions of the court, provide testimony or documents or speak to anyone involved in the proceedings. It seems James caught wind of the fact the court was out to get him. They had even openly spread word of their suspicions he’d committed the very crime for which he was arrested. They filed supporting documents and everything! That itself would seem solid proof of James’ worries! How lucky for James he had the fine example set by Sarah Palin for handling those daring to hurl unfounded allegations. I’m sure his refusal to have anything to do with his trial will assure his exoneration and freedom!
— steve duncan · Sep 19, 12:14 PM · #
The Federal Reserve bailout of AIG was $85 billion. That’s one fifth of the defense budget, and it was appropriated — expropriated — without Congressional approval. The major party candidates have not said a word against the bailouts or the Fed. The Fed is clearly running the country and the official government is just a sideshow.
As Puppet President of the United Sideshow of America, Palin will be easier on the eyes than either Obama or McCain, and that truly is all that matters.
— Joe S. · Sep 19, 12:40 PM · #
Why don’t you like Tim Kaine?
— beans · Sep 19, 12:50 PM · #
As far as I’m concerned, the fact that she allegedly asked about the procedure for banning books while Mayor is reason enough to want Palin to be a heartbeat away from the Oval Office.
— Eddie Van Helsing · Sep 19, 12:54 PM · #
“Based on her performance on the campaign trail so far, she’s a shallow and demagogic politician.”
Based on the facts in the public record that’s also all she’s ever been, whether as a politician in Wasilla or as a largely absentee governor in Juneau. She’s a hack who doesn’t listen to advice, hires unqualified childhood friends for positions of significant authority, has a thin skin, a long memory for slights, and a penchant for making sure those slights are paid back later. She’s also secretive, obsessed with loyalty, and given to abusing the power of the positions she’s been elected to.
— oddjob · Sep 19, 01:10 PM · #
“The Reticulator”:
You are what’s wrong and most dangerous in the US today: ignorant, proud-of-your-idiocy, wacked out, theocrats who are inclined to vote for a person because they’re “just like me” or because she’s “blessed”. The fact of the matter is that Sarah Palin represents the worst in our culture: the smug, self promoting, resume inflating, fact twisting moron who has absolute certainty that they’re “right”, despite every indication to the contrary – facts be damned. She’s Bush on steroids. Anyone who watched either the Hannity or Gibson interviews knows how utterly pathetic, clueless and unprepared she truly is. Too bad you’re so lame you can’t see past her bullshit. We’re not in the End Times and Sarah isn’t going to lead us to the Rapture. Get over it.
— Joko · Sep 19, 01:12 PM · #
Are you paying attention?
Palin is but a distraction (a Trojan Moose)…She is fast food for the politically stupid to chew on and feel numb.
The real issue is John McCain’s cynical and reckless judgement of picking her to be a 72 year old heart beat away from the Presidentcy when she knows nothing of the world beyond Alaska’s borders.
McCain has proven to be the weaker and less rationale of our two choices!
— Are You Kidding? · Sep 19, 01:28 PM · #
Dear Andrew Sullivan,
Things get noticeably dumber on every thread with significant incoming traffic from your site. As a favor, could you please re-enable comments on your own blog, so that The American Scene no longer functions as the default rant pit for your readers?
— Matt Frost · Sep 19, 01:35 PM · #
Right on Matt. I wake up this morning and find a surfeit of intelligent, good-faith arguments from a number of new posters. “Proud-of-your-idiocy?” Why I never thought of it that way before.
— Blar · Sep 19, 01:42 PM · #
Sanity is making a comeback!
None of us could’ve anticipated Palin’s penchant for demagoguery on first viewing, but I have to say, I was shocked that so many conservatives were so euphoric on such little evidence. It was an interesting case of psychological self-bullying — and the media’s contemptible treatment of her took care of the rest. A phenom is born!
You could tell right away conservatives were overextending themselves to praise her. The Commentary crowd, in particular, was fast and loose with movie-blurb-like superlatives – “startlingly good,” “dazzling.” And Mike Huckabee actually said on Fox News Channel that Palin’s experience as mayor was more relevant to the presidency than time served in the Senate.
The mayor angle was one of the things I found so absurd from the first Friday on. One of my grandfather’s drinking buddies was the mayor of my small hometown, followed by one of my high-school English teachers. It’s a part-time job; perhaps one rung above the Kiwanis or the Rotary Club. No shame in that. But a little perspective, please. The fact that the McCain camp was trumpeting that – and the PTA! – gave me shivers.
Her performance on the trail since then has confirmed what any sensible person should have assumed: that she’s an inexperienced, marginally knowledgeable governor of a highly peculiar state. It was incredibly reckless and short-sighted of the McCain campaign to pluck her from obscurity, shoot at her feet, and make her dance. Part of me feels bad for her. But a bigger part sees the bristling ambition in her.
— Scott Galupo · Sep 19, 02:08 PM · #
I knew of her since April. I liked her then because she was a popular governor, shared my views on abortion, and had bucked several (though not all) crooked Republicans up there. The tickets being “Senator dominated” also seemed like a bad idea.
I have soured on her a bit, but I still don’t think she was a worse choice than Biden. At least not in terms of winning an election. Biden has not helped Obama with any group that I can see, not even white Catholics. He’s a grizzled insider from a state that’s never been competitive in this election and he’s proned to say idiotic things. From what I recall he can also be pretty temperamental in his own right. Palin at least has novelty and as an executive she seems to give up on really unpopular things and people. I think her loyalty is very conditional and she’s quite willing to fire people deemed to be idiots. This is not necessarily a good quality, but it does make her different than Bush who tended to keep people no matter how idiotic or unpopular they became.
— Thomas R · Sep 19, 02:31 PM · #
“she’s quite willing to fire people deemed to be idiots”
Can she fire herself then?
— shorter Matt Frost · Sep 19, 02:39 PM · #
I am also interested in the mayor angle. A salary of almost $70,000/year for being mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people and both school and fire department responsibilities are handled by a regional authority. This is unusual. Most places, such a minor, part-time elected office pays very little, perhaps under $10,000 with some insurance benefits.
— Karen S. · Sep 19, 03:10 PM · #
Isn’t it the case that she created massive debts while Mayor? That she charged rape victims for their forensic rape kits? That she didn’t, in fact, refuse funds for the bridge to nowhere?
I see her charm and I do respond to her, I do. But these facts don’t just make me doubt her, they make me very much decide against her. Can anyone tell me why they would still vote for her knowing these things?
— Walls · Sep 19, 04:06 PM · #
Ms Palin is the same type of tabula rasa phony that GWBush was (is) when Karl Rove decided to elevate him to the national stage. Bush was a weak imitation of Ronald Reagan who, let’s face it, was always an actor playing the Presidential Role. The McCain Campaign was desperate because Mr. McCain is so non-telegenic and needed a “role player,” so Ms. Palin got the nod. Because the media is much more interested in entertainment than news they got the candidate they wanted, too, and so you saw a goose in popularity. Eventually reality intervenes…the question is how fast? I think not fast enough. Not enough Republicans can see how hypocritical and venal the Palin pick is.
— theod · Sep 19, 04:07 PM · #
“that she had a record of looking after the interests of Alaskans”.
No, the Alaska CONSTITUTION un-ambiguously looks after the interests of Alaskans, and, to her credit Ms. Palin executed the constitutional directive better than her predecessor. But if so, then this really just shows Republican leadership for what it often is, trojan-horse government.
How could anyone acting in good faith to the Constitution implement it in a way other than how Palin did.
Most on the Right would decry the “Alaska oil model” as, horrors Socialist — the people as actual shareholders of existing public wealth and whose leaders actually negotiate a bigger royalty check. There’s absolutely no way this model would be adopted at the Federal level for offshore leases, nor did McCain or Palin suggest it for the recently adopted legislation.
So much for reform.
— PaulC · Sep 19, 04:47 PM · #
“that McCain really was very unlikely to die immediately upon assuming office.” Possibly the most persuasive case that could’ve ever been made for the Palin pick.
— ron · Sep 19, 05:14 PM · #
… so what did dwarf hero Old Salty see in Sarah?
** Sarah So-White wants to dominate **
Welcome to Dom Sarah’s little world of pain! Old Salty is a doddering dupe. Now he’s just along for the ride into an all-American abyss of fundamentalist political ideology, Dominionism.
Dom Sarah comes “wrapped in a flag, carrying a cross.” She is exactly the gender traitor dominionists need to jumpstart their wet dreams of a holy, xian dictatorship.
Like some pernicious Tinkerbell, Dom Sarah would make “The Handmaid’s Tale” come painfully alive. Voiceover the trailer: In a polluted dystopia policed by xian thugs, a rebellious 20 year old finds herself condemned to sexual slavery because she possess a rare gift, her fertility. (adapted from IMDb.com/title/tt0099731)
Margaret Atwood’s novel (also film) “The Handmaid’s Tale” depicts a society where all but the richest women have been stripped of their rights. In Gilead, an Afghan-like slice of a sundered America, transnational corporate overlords rule unhindered.
Dom Sarah really energizes core Bible-Dom fans. She’s a true believer, a puritanical atavism. What’s wrong with whipping up fervor among consenting male voters? Dom Sarah just wants to treat all American women to some faith-based, strict discipline.
bipolar2 ©2008
— bipolar2 · Sep 19, 05:44 PM · #
Alaska gets $1.87 for every dollar it pays into the Federal system — more than any other state. That makes it the biggest welfare state in the Union by a wide margin. Socialists will say that it’s worth it for Alaska’s oil. But from a conservative viewpoint, the government has no business subsiding the oil we buy. Palin is a welfare queen.
Regarding the substance of this article: I won’t comment on the intellectually suspect practice of supporting a candidate before you know anything about her.
— michael the conservative · Sep 19, 06:13 PM · #
someone posted that she speaks to the middle class………..i am square in the middle class and she does not speak for me , nor does the right wing party that she belongs to. dont get me wrong i’m not much of an obama guy but god ….people come to your senses. we have had eight years of repube rule at the executive level and more than that at the legislative level and what do we have to show for it? a near total meltdown of our entire country. unless this campaign is a sham to get people riled up , there can be no way the polls are as close as they are. you do remember the definition of insanity dont you? it means to do the same thing over and over and expect different results
— flapper · Sep 19, 08:45 PM · #
She’s a party favor, not the hammer needed to build planks. Disappointing, since I favor McCain.
— Eric · Sep 19, 10:22 PM · #
did anyone watch the hannity interview?
lawls, what a torturous camera angle.
Hannity is 6’, Palin likely around 5’1”.
So we had the perspective focus from Palin in the foreground to Hannnity in the background.
In the seated section Palin’s chair was built up into a sort of booster seat.
Great, the president in training needs a booster seat?
Does Team McCain really think they can obscure her height right up to election?
This election is devolving into a freak show.
— matoko_chan · Sep 19, 11:17 PM · #
“Dear Andrew Sullivan,
Things get noticeably dumber on every thread with significant incoming traffic from your site. As a favor, could you please re-enable comments on your own blog, so that The American Scene no longer functions as the default rant pit for your readers?”
I totally agree, though I think I have gotten all huffy about McCain here myself, which I regret. The cure is a exclusive three month diet of canadian theater reviews, home videos, and Jim Manzi’s very good (I’m just guessing, they are hard for me to understand), but hard to understand, cabon credit posts. That will reduce the commentors back to the pre-palin polite five or six.
PS. I’m not saying I don’t like the theater posts, or the home movies, or the cabon credit stuff. I’m saying it takes a rare sensibility to appreciate them.
— cw · Sep 20, 05:42 PM · #
the 411 in newsweek.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/160080
Noah, it is IQ-baiting, pure and simple. Watch for Team McCain to lead Palin around like a one-trick prize pony betweeen now and the vpdebate, never allowing questions from reporters or the electorate, with the excuse that the media wants to savage her so she shudn’t talk to them.
— matoko_chan · Sep 22, 08:56 PM · #
“From the beginning, I thought she was unqualified to be President from day one.”
Since McCain is 72—I would think that this is a disqualifier for McCain’s candidacy. He does not expect to die anytime soon (very few of us do) but he was supposed to have the judgement to select someone who could actually really replace him. The fact that he did not disqualifies him from my vote.
— vrob125 · Sep 25, 05:44 PM · #
Unfortunately, now it looks like Gov. Sarah Palin is unqualified to be Vice-President from day one.
— vrob125 · Sep 25, 05:45 PM · #