Audacity of Truth
Rahmbo:
"Rahm Emanuel is son of the devil's spawn. He is an individual who would sell his mother to get a vote. He would strap his children to the front end of a steam locomotive."
-Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) on Obama's COS, 3/7/10
Velvet Lair- Legends March 18, 2010
- Some things are just not cute March 18, 2010
- The adventures of the lady spider killer continue March 11, 2010
- Intermission February 19, 2010
- People who allow their dogs to poop in other people’s yards February 16, 2010
More on the “lipstick on a pig” controversy
As The Usual Suspects continue to weigh in with their screams of outrage, a more serious discussions on Obama’s remarks have been going on at places like NRO’s Corner, where several of the writers there are urging the McCain campaign to move on from this controversy and stop routinely treating Gov. Palin like she’s a helpless victim.
Now, I don’t think there’s any question that Gov. Palin has been given awful treatment not only by a relentless leftwing press, but also from far left liberals, all the way up to the Obama campaign. And by “awful” I don’t mean any legitimate criticisms about her record (have their been any, by the way?) but instead the insulting, sometimes sexist, sometimes crude remarks being made by certain swamp dwellers about Gov. Palin and her family personally. It wasn’t just a one time thing, either. As soon as McCain announced her candidacy, dirtdigging gangs on the far left started posting one untrue rumor about her after another, including the one about how her infant son Trig was supposedly really her daughter Bristol’s, and so on. These attacks have deserved sharp responses, and any similar attacks in the future do as well.
But (and you knew that was coming, right?), I think the McCain campaign needs to step back and calm down a little. There’s no need to immediately create a response ad everytime they feel like Gov. Palin has been treated wrongly, no need to call an “emergency” conference call to discuss any perceived slight levelled at Gov. Palin from Obama spokesmen and/or surrogates, no need to demand an apology every five minutes. Respond with a strong statement and make your point, refute what’s been said if possible, but for heaven’s sake please don’t blow things out of proportion by issuing the victim card everytime someone goes after Gov. Palin.
From what I’ve read about her time as Governor, this is something she’s never done. You can’t play the victim card in a Republican state and at the same time have an 80%+ approval rating. It just doesn’t happen. I hope over the next two days as ABC’s Charlie Gibson is interviewing Gov. Palin in Alaska that she doesn’t slip into victim mode and carries right on hammering OBiden while discussing what unique qualities she brings to the McCain ticket as well as why she is qualified to be second in line to the leader of the free world. Hillary Clinton whined every five minutes campaigning against Obama during the primaries that she was a routine victim of sexist attacks and it got old after the first time (especially considering the fact that in her case, her first complaint was flat out bogus). It’s ok to address it, but then move on and talk about the issues - and there are plenty of them to talk about, issues where McCain-Palin clearly outshine OBiden (like on energy, reform, wasteful spending, etc).
Again, don’t get me wrong: Personal attacks against Gov. Palin and her family have no place in the political arena and they deserve to be addressed forcefully, just like attacks on her record do. But the GOP only has 50+ days to convince voters that Gov. Sarah Palin has the experience and knowledge it takes to be vice president of this country, and they won’t be successful if they continue to make this race about slights to Gov. Palin personally rather than her record. I have a feeling that in the coming days and weeks as Gov. Palin becomes more comfortable in the national spotlight, doing TV interviews and perhaps some townhall-style appearances, the American people are going to see that she’s smart as hell, patriotic, strong, a fighter, and can roll with the verbal punches as well as anyone. Let’s just hope McCain and his campaign don’t ruin it by continuing to treat her as a damsel in distress.
I suspect women and independents are being drawn more and more to the McCain-Palin ticket because Gov. Palin has already shown that can hold her own and still be a woman in what is very much still a man’s world (as far as politics goes, anyway). They won’t stick around if McCain and Co. don’t cool it with the hour by hour outrage.
Mark Krikorian says it a little less delicately than I do:
It’s not that Palin/McCain campaign should be virtuous by refraining from complaint about the lipstick comment. On the contrary, the problem is that whining about sexism and flaunting her victimhood is bad for ticket because it degrades the Republican brand. Republicans are supposed to be the grown-ups in politics, and official outrage is just another form of me-too Republicanism. Palin’s already shown that she’s more of a man than Obama is, and whining would detract from that.
Your thoughts?
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13 Responses to “More on the “lipstick on a pig” controversy”
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I just watched her speech on your site. I think she did a great job. I heard the affair rumor and at first believed it to be true and it did lower my opinion of her. At this point I no longer believe it to be true.
She looks like a great choice for vp. Noone ever scores points playing a victim, ask Hillary, so I think ST is right about that, but I do like when McCain yells at people.
Sarah Palin looks like a pretty strong woman, and I haven’t seen her play victim at all. Reading some of the lefty blogs, it’s funny what they are throwing out against her hoping something will stick.
The classic video was when the democratic senator from Alaska sided with Sarah on the firing of the trooper. He went on to say the trooper had no place keeping his job as he had made threats.
I largely agree, and I even think the reaction to “lipstick on a pig” has been overdone. Save it for the truly egregious stuff (like Biden on stem cells yesterday or today. And you know something else will come along), otherwise they run the risk of the public ODing on the outrage.
Sarah seems capable of handling this just right: by laughing at her opponents and hitting them with just the right riposte. The McCain people should just let her keep doing that.
Of course the Obama lipstick-analogy was scripted (the crowd got it, though pundits remain unwilling to admit it, ever). And I also agree that the McCain-Palin camp may well be best served to take a (small) step back from the vulgar rhetoric; I am confident that the democrats will continue along their present course of implosion (today, with help from Fowler in SC – talk about “foul”). Regarding experience, Alaska is 20% of the total US landmass; hence, Palin has been responsible for 1/5 of the (geographic) country (soon to be 1/2). Obama will lose the argument over experience, no doubt…it fits into his flip-flopping: first he used “experience” as a negative attribute against Hillary, only to turn around and select Biden (a 36 year DC insider; i.e., a pick for the sake of experience, to bolster Obama’s lack thereof) – now, he’s flipped again, attacking Palin on her experience. Note: Governorship as a pre-Presidential occupation exceeds in frequency that of Senator. See http://zazzle.com/politix for more.
To the extent that the reaction has helped to cement, or at least firm up, the impression in people’s minds that Obama is not ready for prime time, I don’t mind it so much — but yes, there is a shelf life to any given story before it starts to erode rather than support the desired (gag) narrative (spit).
I was raised to avoid either bragging or excessive complaining, so the whole fixation on victimhood seems to me like something from another planet. I really do lose respect for people who go that route, and with a loss of respect goes a loss of sympathy.
So, yes. McCain’s supporters do need to stop harping on this. Obama will provide fresh fodder for the (gag) narrative (spit) soon enough.
I am entirely with you, Sister. I am thrilled with Palin’s selection and even more pleased that John McCain was the candidate with the experience, courage and foresight to see the appeal she would have to so many. I am anxious to see and hear Palin speak outside of the rally environment. She needs to be seen as a legitimate partner in this race, fully capable to stand on her own two feet and independent of McCain.
It is clear that she comes well qualified for VP and she needs to be able to show people that she is even more than what we’ve seen so far. I want to hear her speak outside of the somewhat scripted rally speech and shoot more from the hip. I think when people see and hear her speaking more candidly, she will be even more appealing.
They shouldn’t ignore this. They should take it and run with it–as humor. They could make this so embarrassing, Obama would be suing for sexual harassment.
I too which they would have just let this one drop. It’s more fun just watching Barry twist. It’s just amazing how this PTA Mom has discombobulated him.
Excellent site here.
Where are the Diversity and Tolerance Nazis, now that we really need them?
In the Age of Macaca, where the MSM and their Democrat pets frantically search foreign language dictionaries looking for evidence of GOP “racism”, it is appropriate that the Messiah is now the one feeling the pain of Lipstick-gate. It reminds me of terrorists who accidentally blow themselves up instead of their intended target.
I think McCain/Palin should have briefly acknowledged the remark, either humorously or dismissively, then dropped it. Show who is being adult, and who is making booger jokes and saying “neener neener neeeener!” There will be more clumsy attacks from the left, the trick is going to be keeping cool, maybe raising an eyebrow, and responding with something like “If you refuse to talk issues, at least don’t expect us to get in the gutter with you.”
The more the Republican ticket can act cooly and confidently, the more it’s going to rattle the Obama camp. Don’t let them recover from their initial panic over the Palin pick, and that’s going to require brushing this stuff off.
The best thing you can do in an argument with somebody losing his temper is to keep possession of yourself. Then when it pays off you can laugh about it after the inauguration.
ST wisely offers up:
Surely. The McCain campaign, too, should remember Obama’s technique. We’ve seen this from him before. He sits back, plays rope-a-dope for a few days, and then he responds. He’s pretty good at picking the right moment to do just that.
It seems to me that most Americans have already decided that Palin’s no pushover, no shy violet who has to be “protected” from the nastiness of the campaign. The next job of The McCain campaign should be concentrating on persuading the voters that Palin is qualified to assume the presidency if it comes to that. If Kossie and the Slimetastics want to put on an episode of “Terminate Her! The Sarah Palin Chronicles,” let them. To get hysterical about nonsense like “lipstick on a pig,” and to put out adverts with wolves in them is beyond silly.
Yes, I know, I know . . . the media would rather cover the adverts than actually cover the campaign. They’re lazy; adverts are easy to cover. But, as I said, what the voters need now is assurance that the country will be in safe hands if it comes to a Palin administration sooner rather than later.
Dayum!!! That looks like it hurt.
I personally love a strong women. Strong women helped build this country. They encouraged their men to be strong when the odds were against them. When chaos ensues, strong women bring us back to our senses and give us focus. God do I love what strong women have done for this country. Sarah is just the latest in long history of great women. She will be fine, and one day make a great President.
This latest outrage has more to do with Barry pandering to the crowd. He learned well from his Pastor/Mentor Rev. Wright. This crowd knew what he was talking about and whom he was talking about, this was a direct attack on Sarah Palin. I don’t care what he says the next day, it was, and that crowd knew it. You look at the smug satisfaction on Barry’s face as they were all laughing. He knew what he was doing. This man is completely classless, and I am happy to see the McCain camp smack him down one more time for being stupid. With that tho, I agree, it is time for Sarah to respond to these things herself and let the McCain people trust in her ability. God Bless this ticket, and God Bless America. – Lorica
Well, as hard as the media tries to run cover for obama on this pig thing, the people know what happened and it’s being reflected in the betting polls as we speak. Mccain has taken a lead. For the first time, the odds are that mccain WILL WIN!
When I was going to UCLA in the later 40’s many fraternities, when they had a party with one of the sororities, would have a “pig pot” to which each member would contribute. This would be given to the member who drew the ugliest girl as a partner. I immediately thought of this when I came across Obama’s remark and had no doubt that he meant it as an insult to Sarah. The Illinois saying was unknown to me!