i'm elevating my response to the palin post comments: flora, naureen, and michael discuss here.
i don't disagree with any of their policy-related comments. i don't think i agree with palin on any issue. and i would never vote mccain-palin.
that said, there's something really nice about her "story", especially pre-gibson (which i didn't watch, but i read about). that's not a reason to vote for her, of course.
but it's interesting to think what about her tugs at my heartstrings? her story, not as a some politician, but as a working mom who "gets" things that people face day to day. politics start at a boring, local level -- people want their children to have educations, they want a stable source of income, and they have to reconcile their beliefs with their actions every day. her "story" shows that. yeah, it's mostly spin, it's anti-intellectual, it's suburban-rural (and therefore anti-me), but even knowing that, i still like her. or maybe i like that story.
when i say she's not to be dismissed, i don't mean that we should take her policy stances seriously. i mean that a lot of people feel connected to her, and there's something to that. that's it really.
re sexuality and achievement
maybe it's an old fashioned feminist kind of thing to think, women have to make choices that men don't have to face because of their sexuality. many women make serious decisions to slow down or stop their careers because they want to have children -- they are paid less, they advance slower, they take positions with less responsibility. (men do too but i still think to a lesser extent, and there's the physical burden of 9 month pregnancy.)
re palin is like bush in worldview
probably, yes. bush doesn't tug at my heartstrings, though. i don't know if he's ever tugged anyone's heartstrings, which is the difference. she has cultural appeal. for me, it might just really be because she's a strong woman.
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"when i say she's not to be dismissed, i don't mean that we should take her policy stances seriously. i mean that a lot of people feel connected to her, and there's something to that. that's it really."
That gets to the heart of it. I mean, I see that story arc and I see the struggles my mom dealt with when my sister and I were in the Willow-Piper-Trig age range. Then I look at what Sarah Palin has to say for herself, and of course I separate that from that story arc, but we're yuppies -- we have that kind of time to think it out.
And even with our yuppie dreams of sophisticated family life or whatever, of course the Palin m.o. lurks in the back of our minds as what we may fall back on (or aspire to, mileage and finances may vary), so the fact that she could have the same ambition as Hillary but in more domesticated trappings, well, it fascinates me to see her play that hand, and I don't think smart women should have to excuse our interest or feeling of connection regardless of whether we vote for her, and you're right, we can't underestimate her appeal to the broader electorate.
I'll leave more detailed comment later, but i would like to point out that i find palin fascinating, and good political theater, not a candidate i want to vote for. that being said, i find obama fascinating and quite possible dangerous. if i thought palin could get her views imposed, i'd be more worried. i know obama can get his way. a new new deal would leave this country in complete and total disarray with no chance of economic recovery. politicians touting the economic 'reform' vs. recovery argument have a history of ruining economies for the sake of political pleasing. look at sarbanes-oxley. bush's administration say the implementation of the greatest regulatory system in the history - and despite the trillions of dollars of cost of implementation, it still cant prevent businesses from making bad decisions - especially ones like fannie and freddie who made bad decisions at the behest of democratic senators.
the problem is, the narrative of sarah palin's life is only partially true. yeah, she was a small-town mayor, but used to just be a pta mom. but she was a crooked mayor, a dangerous governor.
i don't know if you've seen this
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/us/politics/14palin.html?em
I don't find that inspiring at all.
i saw that yesterday. pretty not cool.
Gut v. mind. I think it's well documented what works better on the electorate. We've got plenty of fine minds in America, but more often than not they're turned off. (Well, to be more accurate, they're closed on the coasts and turned off in the middle, but with Palin I think it's very much a "turned-off" issue.)
But the economy has moved back to the front of the stage, which might allow the race to rest a little more comfortably on issues.
I'm so intrigued by responses to Palin. Here's the smartest analysis I've read about her so far: http://www.salon.com/opinion/paglia/2008/09/10/palin/index.html . Paglia isn't my favorite, and I often don't agree with her, but she's undeniably whip-smart (if polemical) and I think she hit the mark on most of what she writes here.
Palin is a fascinating post-feminist feminist. She's the 1950s Hollywood Housewife on steroids. Not so smart with that book learning stuff (imagine ernest folksy voice narrating here), but when Wally or the Beave need her to step in, she knows how to take care of her own in the ways that matter, whether "her own" is the town of Wasilla, the state of Alaska, or the grand old USA. The updated version just eliminated the annoying protestations of weakness that so often came with the 1950s version. The new June Cleaver doesn't have to pretend she can't shoot that caribou. :-) But Palin does have still have a soft, "feminine" exterior that hides what is likely just as ruthless and power-hungry an interior as everyone I've ever met that has worked with Hillary Clinton reports her to have.
Just some musings.
After her awful recent interviews, check out this one. This is the Palin that tugs at your heart strings, I think, Carol. (Make sure to listen to the interview, don't read the transcript.)
http://townhall.com/TalkRadio/Show.aspx?RadioShowID=5&ContentGuid=9c930bbd-2571-4987-bd47-d1862ba390eb
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