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.

Comments

[patiens]

Get a grip. The country has heard a speech which gives us a true picture of Palin. There is no embellishment, no attempt to be something she is not.. As to experience, you need to make up your mind. Obama has spent almost all of his senatorial time campaigning for the presidency. Prior to the Senate, he wasn't involved in meeting with foreign leaders. Please don't gloat that Obama made sacrifices rather than benefit from his law degree. His living circumstances in Illinois do not support that. His associations have been very questionable. Most of what I hear about Palin here is a bunch of whining over opinions rather than facts. You haven't even heard a debate yet. Study!

[StephenJK]

Jamie is right on the money. So that makes two on the GOP side that won't be able to hold their own in debate against the two on the democratic side. The suggestion of Palin as VP is completely ludicrous when you hear this pretty face on the talking head shows. A bunch of preset talking points she runs through as the preset questions run by her. I can't wait for her to debate Biden on things like Israel, the Middle East, Russia, China and the NS issues. She won't have an ass to sit on after they're done with her.

[bascombe]

thank you Jamie.

[Winekno]

I couldn't agree with you more, well done. However, it is unfortunate that from the last election, Americans voted in George W cause he's the guy they can relate to and want to have a beer with. Not that he is smart, articulate or worldly--those things seemed to have NEVER come to mind. And the price we pay is our world foddering image which doesn't seem to bother the conservative base at all--and why should it when you can be righteous all the time and claim God is on your side?

We can only hope that many more others just WAKE UP and vote in the smarter team.

[sean6886]

I too worry that if McCain/Palin get elected, that's it, we don't get a second chance. We're hanging on by a thread here and they want to privatize schools, pay teachers based on classroom performance, privatize social security, have more wars, take away the rights of women to choose, let our infrastructure crumble more, remain do-nothing on health care, the environment, and so much more.

If McCain was really the Maverick he claims he is, how come he hasn't done anything to earn that title in at least the last eight years?

[Bill C]

If she wasn't McSame's pick and, had to go up against any of the other VP candidates that were in the running, would she be "your" first choice? Don't lie now! Was Pawlenty not enough of a "maverick?" Was Romney smarter than McSame? Didn't Ridge relate to the Christo-fascist Evangelical base? Was Joe (the traitor) Lieberman not slimey enough? I don't think anyone knew a damn about Sarah Palin before McSame introduced her.

[Pandora1]

Nice summary Jamie about what really matters when choosing the head, or would-be head of the free world, not to mention what we can hope will happen to repair our own fractured US economy. I am a professional woman who KNOWS women can handle the myriad problems facing our country; as such I was an ardent Clinton supporter. But THIS woman? No way. It takes more than a smart mouth and a sarcastic quip to heal us, and frankly I can't even "relate" to her as a woman anyway. If MY daughter had had a child at 17 years, when she was just finding out who she is and how she can contribute to society at large, I would support her of course, make sure local schools teach more than abstinance only, help her CHOOSE her options -- but never parade her around in front of millions of people like a heroine. And that poor baby, hauled around like a sack of potatoes, and turned so that the audience can see his adorable face. UGH. For shame McCain, for shame.

[Robt]

The relate point is considerably a marketing sales pitching tool as it can be in communicating.

many people distrust the corrupt public officials they vote in. Then re elect because they think they know this one.

Then to take the position of not trusting the new comer because he might be corrupt too?

It is a proven fact that propaganda works. If your told a lie about someone often enough and frequent enough and reinforce those lies with other seperate propagandists. When the person speaks to you that has been propagandized . You automatically "think" you know what they are going to say because you've been programed what they would say. You hear your predisposition and not the words spoken

Like voting for the people that brought us down this road relentlessly and now those same people tell us someone else is responsible and they need to be voted in to clean up the mess.

They are good at marketing this dog by putting lipstick on it.
You have to understand, McCain's low luster and poor communication skills aided in makeing a 44 yr old that can read a teleprompter and smile through a lie more convincingly a much more appealing product to look at than McCain. That is all Palin seems to be is a product they are relabling as "new and improved". When all they did was add a female face on the label with the same recipe that gave America its stomach ache.

[Evinsmom]

THANK YOU JAMIE!!! So eloquently written. I'm a working mother of a 7 year old and quite frankly am tired of the "hockey mom" label as if that's what I want to see in a world leader! It's quite insulting that she thinks so little of women that all we care about is being able to relate to her daily motherly duties all while holding down a job. I don't see myself as a VP nor do I want to. I want the VP to be an accomplished scholar and leader . Throwing out the "hockey mom" label was such a cheap tactic to bait women.

[Stormchaser44]

I've loved you for a long time. Great ACTRESS and WRITER that you are and now to show us that celebrity is a nice wholesome word--your comments here on the Huff Post are always appreciated by me. Problem with many folks who would label the Dems as soft is that thinking and analyzing issues is really hard and takes time and effort. Too many people settle for ease and no thinking. Too many of us think with our wallets or about our wallets. Our country needs people who are willing to put effort and sacrifice to "make" the country work for its citizens again.

Thank you Jamie

[theseanachai]

What a wonderful, insightful piece. I think the whole "relatable" propaganda targets the less educated voters and is really patronizing; it presumes that voters are such simpletons that they will elect someone because they share the same hobbies (hunting) or the ability to bear children.

Then again, the Republicans must be onto something...half this country elected Bush. Twice. We may never get out of this rut until we start educating our citizens, because they clearly are falling for it once again...

thanks Jamie and I hope you'll be posting more!

[BillShea]

I keep thinking of the headline of one of the London tabloids after Bush won a second term in 2004. The headline read, "How can 47 million people be so stupid?" I fear that I will be reading an equivalent headline again this November. Since Mayor Palin came on the scene there has not been a single discussion of the economy, jobs, healthcare, Iraq, etc. It's been all distraction and that's what the Republicans must do. When Speaker Pelosi took impeachment off the table, I felt a gnawing in my gut that the Republicans would retain control of the White House. Democrats may be smarter intellectually but Republicans are smarter politically. I honestly believe that in November we'll see that a minimum of 47 million people really are that stupid. We get what we deserve!

[Philip N. Cohen - Huffpost Blogger]

I agree completely. But sometimes something like relatability, which sounds like it's about individuals, is really about a collective response. A certain group or population subgroup gets a positive cultural vibe off a candidate, and it's enough to get a buzz going. Once you have some positive buzz, the group is primed for a simple political turn to bring them on board to vote for the person. The relatability sets them up, makes them ready to hear a political pitch that would seem foreign to someone who didn't see the connection. It's like being willing to hear your cousin's hair-brained investment plan - you already like the guy, so you listen to him, and that gives him the chance to make the sale...

[RogerOThornhill]

Jamie,
Well put and totally right on!
Please contribute more often. Common sense is pretty uncommon.

[TakLoufer]

Thanks, Jamie, exactly the point about Palin versus real leaders. The only people who will look up to this person are other middle and lower middle class moms & housewives. These are not bad women; they're usually pretty fine people -- as wives and mothers and community organizers. They are not however fit to run the United States of America, nor are they fit to represent the US in foreign policy situations -- unless they have had prior experience and education in these matters. Palin got her degree in Communications from U-ID; she used it to secure a one year job as a television sports anchor.. At best, in terms of Washington politics, she is maybe fit to be a press secretary ala the late Tony Snow, yet hardly in his class.