How to Dismantle the Sarah Palin Myth
First you have to accept what should be obvious by now: facts and logic do not move voters; emotions move voters. And Republicans understand this while Democrats are still struggling with it.
Paul Simon said it best in The Boxer: “A man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.”
You need to persuade the persuadables. And pointing out all the lies and hypocrisies that Palin engages in will only fall on deaf ears — or worse, they’ll just tune you out. The persuadables have already decided that they like her. And with that, they’ll fit the facts to their opinion (not vice versa).
What you have to do is convince them that liking her is OK … but voting for her is absolutely beyond the pale.
Accept what you — and they — already know. That she’s the heroine in a whacky comedy, the improbable unknown plucked from obscurity and made into a household word. Whatever you do, acknowledge that she fits into a story that we are already familiar with — and like.
Remember Mr. Smith Goes to Washington? Don’t fight it. Go with it.
But take the next step. If you are really afraid that Palin may become President one day — far too soon — you’re going to have to deal with this baked-in advantage that she already has. And you can’t do it with facts and logic.
Try this approach instead:
“Sarah is very likable, no doubt about it. But this isn’t a sitcom or a movie. You don’t pick someone to be one heartbeat from the Presidency who is so untested she won’t even do a press conference on foreign policy, can you?”
“Yes, she’d be great in a movie; seeing Russia from your front door is a great punch line. But that won’t cut it in the real world, will it?”
“I know — you’d love to have a beer with her, or go hunting or snowmobiling with her. But you have to agree: we tried picking a president that way the last time and it turned out really, really badly, didn’t it?”
“Let’s not do that again. The world is more dangerous now and we already know some things that we didn’t know then. Let’s not make the same mistake twice, OK?”
“Fact is, Barack Obama has explained in great detail what his solutions are to a the problems America faces in this dangerous world. But John McCain? John McCain picked someone who could take over for him if he dies in office who won’t even face a few questions in a press conference. That’s not right, is it?”
“If she can’t handle a few reporters now, how is she going to handle Vladimir Putin tomorrow?”
“Look: if you made a movie out of Sarah Palin’s life, we’d all go buy a ticket, eat some popcorn, have a few laughs, maybe shed a tear and feel good walking out. But this is real life, not a TV show or a movie. We cannot afford another presidency that won’t answer real questions from real people about the solutions to the real problems we face in this dangerous world, can we?”
“We don’t do that in America. It’s an insult to the voters of this good country of ours and an insult to you. Vote for a real candidate — not a sitcom candidate.”
Get it? Good. Now go out and tell this story to 5 people who think they like Sarah Palin.
As for me, I’m done talking about her for the foreseeable future. This election is about John McCain and how he is going to be Bush’s third term.
P.S. Power’s on at our house in Baton Rouge! WooHoo! Now we’re just waiting for cable and internet. Damn you Cox!
Um, actually she’s a liar and a fraud – beside being unqualified. I’m not about to start adjusting reality to suite the reality-impaired. And I doubt that it would persuade anyone who is ready to vote McCain/Palin not to.
I’m just saying.
Screw Palin anyway. Democrats need to run against Republicanism:
Call me a glass half broken kind of person”, indeed.
Obama may be comfortable sticking with his game plan but this guy is thinking like a strategist:
I like it!
Ara, you know I agree with you on emotion v. reason in voting, but I don’t see that argument you laid out working. The pivot to Obama’s experience alone makes much of that argument moot. I would go at it from a slightly different angle. You like Palin, fine. She made it to Idaho State (or some similar school, I’m not looking it up), he made it to Harvard. She made it to mayor of Wassilla, he made it Ill. State Senate. She made it governor of AK, he made it to Senator of Ill. Each achievement roughly at same level, only more grand in every case for him. Not sure either argument works in the end, though. Obama has to find a meme that wins back likability.
I’d be careful on the financial press conference, McCain is likely to say the things America wants to hear, unless the Obama camp is going to depart from current message. http://www.cnbc.com/id/26736414
The pivot to Obama’s experience alone makes much of that argument moot.
Except that this argument isn’t about experience: it’s about judgment. You remember that Bush promised to surround himself with all the most experienced people like Cheney and Rumsfeld and so forth, right? Problem was, their judgment sucked. Bad. So answering the Palin-is-experienced meme is pointless and I’m glad to see that Obama/Biden have stayed away from that red herring.
Who are you trying to convince? Who is the target audience of you your plea for support of Obama over Palin?
“The pivot to Obama’s experience alone makes much of that argument moot.”
Judgment.
Intelligence.
Intentions.
Knowledge.
There’s no comparison between the capabilities of Sarah Palin (or John McCain for that matter) and Barack Obama to be a successful President. And that includes life accomplishment, as well as the four qualities listed above. You’ve rendered the broader meaning of the word “experience” into dust.
Who are you trying to convince? Who is the target audience of you your plea for support of Obama over Palin?
First of all, snap out of it. It isn’t “Obama over Palin.” If anything it is Obama over McCain. Thanks.
To answer your question “who are you trying to convince?” my answer is this: I am trying to convince those voters who dislike McCain AND Obama but will vote for Palin because they “like her.” I personally know of at least three individuals who fit this profile. There are many more out there, sad to say — although polling seems to indicate that Palin’s unfavorables have overtaken her favorables since her nomination.
She is in net negative territory now, FWIW — the only candidate of the four for which that can be said.
Ara,
Your second paragraph completely undercuts your first. If they are voting for Palin and NOT Obama AND McCain then this is by definition a Palin v. Obama story. You cannot vote for Palin AND Obama.
As to the voter profile, you are talking about either the Rep. base voter (who dislikes both) or some unknown % of swing voters. We’ll leave the Rep. base out of this discussion because you could never convince them in a million years (they are the ones who still like GWB). As for the swing voters, your argument boils down to ‘if you like Palin I’m trying to reason with you about how Palin is exactly like Bush.’ You are ignoring the voting on emotion v. issues/reason/facts rule. You are using logic to battle emotion. It won’t work. You can only battle emotion with emotion. Unless a voter can be made to like Obama more than Palin through an appeal to emotion any attempt is a whole lot of waste (time/money/effort/oxygen).
FWIW, I’ll officially abandon my argument for Obama over Palin as well.
Your second paragraph completely undercuts your first.
Actually, no. My first paragraph undercuts THEIR paragraphs (so to speak). It all starts with framing the discussion in the correct way.
As to the voter profile, you are talking about either the Rep. base voter (who dislikes both) or some unknown % of swing voters.
None of these people are Republican base voters. In fact, one of them is a Democrat and a liberal — hardly a swing voter. The others might be described as swing voters, I suppose.
Unless a voter can be made to like Obama more than Palin through an appeal to emotion any attempt is a whole lot of waste
Again with the Obama-vs-Palin meme. Stop it, OK? That’s exactly what McCain would prefer you to do because he himself is so bereft of support on either side. He’s hiding behind her skirts. I say flush him out into the open.
But I digress.
The first step is acknowledge that Palin is likable. Once you do that, you’re halfway to having them on your side. Without that, you get resistance.
Give a little, gain a lot. IJS.
“The first step is acknowledge that Palin is likable. Once you do that, you’re halfway to having them on your side. Without that, you get resistance.”
I think that the stronger way to go is to show that she is untrustworthy and “not like” you. For the persuadable, “swing voter” that has been more effective than trying to get them on your side by agreeing that the candidate is likable and then…whatever (see: 2000, 2004 election campaigns – I missed where Al Gore and John Kerry were portrayed as likable, even though they obviously are). That’s the one useful thing I’ve learned from Republicans.
People see Sarah Palin as the candidate with “spunk.” I (like Lou Grant) hate spunk, but many others do not. All I’m saying is why fight that? Give them spunk in return for their common sense vote.
OK, she’s a spunky liar and unaccomplished fraud. I like it.
Ara,
I’m very intrigued with your Democrat/liberal. Why is this person supporting Palin?
As far as your idea that once you admit her likability you are half way there, here are my thoughts. I immediately think that in many things (I’ll include this) the first 90% is easy and the last 10% is hard. You have conquered a little over half of the easy part of the equation. There is still a lot of easy territory to conquer before you get to the hard part. If you are think of this as admitting that she is likable covers the 90% you still have the 10% remaining.
I’m very intrigued with your Democrat/liberal. Why is this person supporting Palin?
Because this person likes Palin. They…really like…Palin. She’s got spunk! (I hate spunk.)
If you are think of this as admitting that she is likable covers the 90% you still have the 10% remaining.
That part is traditionally called “closing the sale” or in traditional media parlance “sealing the deal.”
Hi, I found your blog on this new directory of WordPress Blogs at blackhatbootcamp.com/listofwordpressblogs. I dont know how your blog came up, must have been a typo, i duno. Anyways, I just clicked it and here I am. Your blog looks good. Have a nice day. James.