Debate Not Relate
The scariest thing I hear about the Palin nomination was that she would appeal to voters because they would be able to relate to her and she to them. I get that. There are many places where relatability is key. I am a recovering addict alcoholic and finding another group that relates to my struggles is/was key to my sobriety. When I am at school I find myself grouping with others whose kids share the same issues, interests. People tell me all the time that the More magazine article where I showed what my real body looked like in comparison to the air brushed images most women are fed, was important and made me relatable. That too is great. The problem is I may be relatable and share some of your experiences and concerns but you don't want me as president of United States. Relatability gets you nothing in a complex financial crisis. Relatability doesn't help you understand the Gordian knot of trouble in the Middle East. Relatability doesn't help you untangle the obscenity which is our health care and insurance system and relatability doesn't train the hundreds of thousands of new teachers and repair and rebuild the smashed infrastructure and schools where they work.
I couldn't hold my own for one minute in a debate on any issue with someone like a Barack Obama or Joseph Biden and neither can Sarah Palin. When the call comes at 3AM I want a mind who was at the top of their class, who has gravitas and a real intellect. I want a leader who is a scholar who can hold the history of civilization in his head and will read and learn from the past as he charts the future. Real debates, where issues are explored, are the only way, prior to an election, to get the two candidates and their running mates to share their ideas and plans for the myriad contingencies they will/might face. This isn't a test. We don't get a re-do. This is the hardest time this generation has ever faced and people are all scared about the economy, our health care and mostly our children's futures. That is what millions of Americans and I can relate to.
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If you had to choose a surgeon to do a delicate operation on you, would it be the jerk with amazing skills or would it be the mediocre but charming person. The answer has consistently been the jerk.
So, why should choosing a president be different? Likelier than not, a president will never be your buddy, in office nor out, and a president has more impact on life than a surgeon.
Even Rick Warren said the same thing during his Barack interview. He said pick a president for how well he or she can do the job and not because he is a Christian.
Jamie,
Thanks for the article. I agree with you. I am voting for Senators Obama and Biden. I hope you vote for them too.
OBAMA / BIDEN 08
LET SARAH DO A PRESS CONFRENCE MCCAIN!
FREE SARAH
PS
i loved holloween jamie lee
thanks jamie.
luv you jamie. if only more people voted with their minds, and not their hearts, the US wouldn't be going bankrupt in Iraq.
hearts are important too. don't give the 'greater purpose' away to the right!
Kuddos Jamie ~ well said.
Curtis has written a most thoughtful piece about Palin and the politics of relating. Somebody send this to the Dems. Several posters have mentioned that some voters made the same claim about Bush. This point should be made again and again. It is a short and pointed reminder of the horror we've had to live with for the past eight years. Everyone, please, stop and imagine a Palin nation. Then, go vote for Obama.
What has Obama Lead? Where is his leadership skills. What business has he run? What has he done to show that he has leadership skills?
I have seen nor heard one example of his leadership. Running a campaign where EVERYONE is for you is not leadership.
At 3am I want a person to answer with a yes or no...Not a Present
According to most polls, half of the people in the country still will vote for the McCain/Palin ticket solely based on the vp candidate's relatability. I hope Obama can convince more people to feel that 8 is enough. We have already tried the "guy like us" for president with disastrous results. Enough!!!
Part of the power behind a person comes from the experiences they have dealt with in life, some are not always mapped out as clear and orderly as we would like. Some of our greatest leaders in this country and in history learned more from life than in a classroom. It amazes me, how those who say they support the strength of women and how they have for centuries overcome the oppressions of a man's world can not even consider that another trail is being blazed right before us.
Inexperienced President or inexperienced VP? HMMM?
That Palin is a "state" politician rather than a "national" figure means that she has to do a lot of brushing up to field questions in the upcoming news conferences BUT she is running for VICE PRESIDENT not president and -- as such -- she must follow McCain's lead. At this time, her personal take on the issues can only be expressed IF it coincides with the presidential candidate. She has to be briefed on McCain's choices and be able to express them when questioned.
But she is VERY used to dealing with the media. She UPSET the Republican primary for the 2006 gubernatorial elections and went on to BEAT the INCUMBENT and she didn't do that by avoiding the press.
Obama who has NEVER held an executive office, who was rightly criticized by Giuliani for constantly AVOIDING DECISIONS is running for PRESIDENT. Who's going to be making the decisions if this inexperienced candidate gets in, his campaign manager Axelrod or his subordinate Biden?
You are SO Right On.
"...The problem is I may be relatable and share some of your experiences and concerns but you don't want me as president of United States"
I'd vote for you over that Nimrod in a heartbeat!
I too would never vote for someone based on their gender. But if it is to be believed that Palin is a "token" female; then think what that says of Obama.
Who would think that a comment about relating could draw such hateful remarks.
El Rancho, you have stooped to a low level by resorting to name-calling when someone disagrees with you.
BTW, congress votes together on 90% of items all around, because most votes are not involving partisan or controversial issues. Check the record if you doubt it.
I respect the fact that Palin is a loving and proud mother of her children whether they be special needs by definition or whether they have special needs based on circumstances. I have no doubt that her children will be well cared for and much loved as children of the VP. Many are the working mothers who would love to have the total support of a loving husband and father, and a guarantee that her children willl be well cared for guarded by the best. It doesn't matter if it is one child or five. Chelsae might have welcomed siblings to keep her company the many times her parents were away.
In my opinion you missed the boat. Obama competed against numerous other democrats to become the demoncratic nominee...Palin was given a "free" ride. Obama was vetted...race, religion, patrioctism...the whole nine yards was thrown at him for the past 20 months. He won the right to run for POTUS, fair and square. Belive me, he was not a "token"...on the other hand, John McCain would have LOVED to have chosen Libermann as his running mate...but he was forced to pick Palin. And now, because the only real thing that she brings to the table is her knack for sarcasim and condesending ways, they want the American public to believe that she is the best person out there that can be a heart beat away from becoming POTUS if something were to happen to John McCain. She was a beatuty queen who finished her college education in five years by attending 6 different colleges; she has hardly no experience of being abroad; she almost was ousted from her mayor position, where she made BAD executive decisions and as a governor is accused of abusing her executive power. Who needs it...they are trying to attract the Hillary Women...and in case that doesn't work...let's go after those small time uneducated middle-class white folks who can relate to a PTA soccer mom....
Complaints about government surround special interests, oil & gas issues, corruption, etc. I don't know of anything Obama has done about these issues on a state or national level. It is fact that Palin has knowledge and experience in these areas.
Remarks like " ... next thing we will be required to wear panty hose again ...", and criticizing Palin for having been in a beauty contest in her youth, are simply sexist. I am thrilled that the stereotype that beauty and brains are not found together is dispelled. What about that glass ceiling? It was fine to talk about it when Hillary was running.
I too would never vote for someone based on their gender. But if it is to be believed that Palin is a "token" female; then think what that says of Obama.
Someof the remarks are not as far fetched as you say. Her belief that there should not be a separation on church and state is my problem. You may as well turn back the clock 40 or more years for women's rights. What is next on her list?
And to the person who questioned John McCain's intellect? It takes a lot of smarts to get into the naval academy just as it does into Harvard. McCain didn't have affirmative action on his side either. Joe Biden finished in the bottom 15 - 20% of his class. The loser who stated that if he had been smarter he probably would not have been shot down makes my stomach turn. You probably set cats on fire as a child. How dare anyone belittle or overlook the strength it took to survive those years as a POW. After enduring that kind of torture, do you really think your unsubstatiated comments could get to him? He has already faced the enemy and won. Whether you want him to be president or not, please don't make such a fool of yourself.
Many of the problems we face today are results of ramifications from well over a decade ago. How easy it is to forget. Your children probably will not have social security because the democrats released the funds which were never to be disturbed, for other use. Our military was made weak during the Clinton years, yet you wish to blame George W. because preparedness was not at peak when we were attacked. And watch for the terminology used in campaigning. Tax relief (meant to make you think "tax cuts") spoken of by Obama means more welfare at one end and mega taxes to middle and upper class.
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