--- On Tue, 9/2/08, boddi satva <lbo.boddi at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Republicans are always for objective standards - as long as
> there are
> two of each.
>
[WS:] What appears as contradiction from a logical point of view may be perfectly consistent from an emotional point of view. Do not underestimate, as most liberals do, the significance of emotional reasoning in the US politics.
Palin is a much more formidable opponent than "educated liberal elites" who emphaize "rationality" want us to believe. She is a quintessential "all-American girl" who "made it" and become popular despite her lowly background and relative lack of education (BA in journalism from the U of Idaho is her highest academic credential.) And she is also an "ass-kicker" and government basher - which no doubt will resonate with many middle class Americans.
In a way, she is another Anna Nicole Smith, the quintessential trailer trash and gold digger who used her sex appeal to "make it" (i.e. get rich and become popular) - an ideal with which countless middle and working class women can easily identify and which "liberal elites" scorned. Who cares that her politics suck - she is a "Woman like me" someone "I can idenfy with" (just like George Bush once was), so "I will vote for her instead of that stuffed shirt uppity N-word with the Harvad law degree."
Anti-intellectualism and gutter populism are formidable forces in American politics, especially when combined with racism. Before Palin's selection for VP, I thought that Obama had a pretty good chance of winning in November. Now I am not so sure. I am afraid that Mccain may have a better chance. Any liberal attempt to poo-pooh Palin as a lightweight provincial goose will only increase her appeal to "middle America." Obama understands that rather well and refrain from any overt criticism of her, especially along these lines, but then there is not much that a guy from Harvard can do to undermine the appeal of the Anna Nicole Smith trope to lower middle class folk populating middle America podunks.
Wojtek