I just finished watching the vice presidential debate and I have to say I think America is in trouble. Sarah Palin was absolutely masterful in controlling the debate through her rhetoric and using the television cameras to speak directly to the people, while Joe Biden simply spoke to the moderator, answered the questions asked, and tried to provide substantive information about his party's plans for governing.
How could the democrats be so stupid as to present information in response to rhetoric! Sarah Palin told Americans that "we have got to..." and "we're gonna" and made promises to give every household $5000 to pay for medical care. McCain isn't going to fly the white flag in Iraq, and on and on...
Joe Biden seemed taken by Sarah Palin's charm and school girl patriotic civic lessons to the point of being brought to smiles and laughter when confronted with her simplistic responses. It’s like he thought she was too cute to be dangerous. At one point Palin even uttered the same words as a Lee Greenwood song. The big bright eyes of the republican stared directly at the masses while the narrow eyes of experience just looked beadier as he flashed is big toothy grin. It reminded me of the classic image of the puppy and the old hunting dog. When the new pup arrived he didn’t pay attention until it was too late and he was left in the yard as the new pup rode in the front seat on his first hunt. Sarah Palin’s the new dog in Washington politics with the same big eyes and enthusiasm that believes in the lies she’s propagating.
Joe Biden and the democrats are such intellectual elitist that they think Americans can see through the smoke cloud when Palin stated over and over how McCain and the republicans were going to reclaim oversight over Wall Street. The party of corporate welfare is somehow going to play schoolyard monitor over big business? This is America! The land of $1 menu items, big gulps, hummers, and reality television that isn't real! The people that are going to elect the next president are just as likely to watch WWF Raw as they are Bill Moyer’s NOW. After a hard day's work people are not watching television to be informed, they're watching to be entertained. Jerry Springer could have moderated this debate.
This made for television debate is the best example of how our elections are mediated through corporate news organizations. Did you notice how the camera's locked in on Sarah Palin (are her glasses even prescription?) and how often the camera moved around during Biden's answers? What purpose did the behind the podium shots serve other than to highlight the tight skirt Palin was wearing. I saw little difference between watching this debate and watching Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality.
The moderator didn’t restrict the candidate’s responses to the questions and so we were bombarded with republican rhetoric and Joe Biden’s winey responses. Joe Biden didn’t speak to the audience. Joe Biden was in an auditorium at Washington University while Sarah Palin was in millions of households talking to us like we were having a cup of coffee and shooting the breeze over the economy. I don’t think my neighbor can run the country either, but after a beer or two I’m pretty sure the two of us could. I wish Will Rogers were around to see this.
I hope I’m wrong. I know we were all wrong about Sarah Palin in terms of her intelligence and coach-ability. Have we forgotten that Diane Sawyer started as a beauty queen? You don’t need a passport to get to the Whitehouse, nor do you have to be a Rhodes scholar. The majority of people electing the next president aren’t either.
It’s time the Democrats reached the right audience. It’s time for democrats to reclaim patriotism, independence, American ingenuity, and all other facets of the Great American West mythology. It’s time East Coast democrats summon images of Mel Gibson in The Patriot rather than well-coifed parliamentary elitists. If Hollywood is donating so much to the Democrats, why can’t they get the script right? Why is it we get Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger instead of Steven Spielberg? These days I think we’re getting mostly muppets.
Of course all of this is just rhetoric.
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