The Inciter
Peggy Noonan gets at what I realized about Sarah Palin a few weeks ago, that what she's really good at is inciting emotion, playing on emotion, pushing buttons, pulling heartstrings. She's not dumb -- she's streetsmart. But that's not enough. Noonan writes in the WSJ (finally getting into saying what she thinks on-microphone):
People can come from nowhere, with modest backgrounds and short résumés, and yet be individuals of real gifts, gifts that had previously been unseen, that had been gleaming quietly under a bushel, and are suddenly revealed. Mrs. Palin came, essentially, from nowhere. But there was a man who came from nowhere, the seeming tool of a political machine, a tidy, narrow, unsophisticated senator appointed to high office and then thrust into power by a careless Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose vanity told him he would live forever. And yet that limited little man was Harry S. Truman. Of the Marshall Plan, of containment. Little Harry was big. He had magic. You have to give people time to show what they have. Because maybe they have magic too.But we have seen Mrs. Palin on the national stage for seven weeks now, and there is little sign that she has the tools, the equipment, the knowledge or the philosophical grounding one hopes for, and expects, in a holder of high office. She is a person of great ambition, but the question remains: What is the purpose of the ambition? She wants to rise, but what for? For seven weeks I've listened to her, trying to understand if she is Bushian or Reaganite--a spender, to speak briefly, whose political decisions seem untethered to a political philosophy, and whose foreign policy is shaped by a certain emotionalism, or a conservative whose principles are rooted in philosophy, and whose foreign policy leans more toward what might be called romantic realism, and that is speak truth, know America, be America, move diplomatically, respect public opinion, and move within an awareness and appreciation of reality.
But it's unclear whether she is Bushian or Reaganite. She doesn't think aloud. She just . . . says things.
Her supporters accuse her critics of snobbery: Maybe she's not a big "egghead" but she has brilliant instincts and inner toughness. But what instincts? "I'm Joe Six-Pack"? She does not speak seriously but attempts to excite sensation--"palling around with terrorists." If the Ayers case is a serious issue, treat it seriously. She is not as thoughtful or persuasive as Joe the Plumber, who in an extended cable interview Thursday made a better case for the Republican ticket than the Republican ticket has made. In the past two weeks she has spent her time throwing out tinny lines to crowds she doesn't, really, understand. This is not a leader, this is a follower, and she follows what she imagines is the base, which is in fact a vast and broken-hearted thing whose pain she cannot, actually, imagine. She could reinspire and reinspirit; she chooses merely to excite. She doesn't seem to understand the implications of her own thoughts.
No news conferences? Interviews now only with friendly journalists? You can't be president or vice president and govern in that style, as a sequestered figure. This has been Mr. Bush's style the past few years, and see where it got us. You must address America in its entirety, not as a sliver or a series of slivers but as a full and whole entity, a great nation trying to hold together. When you don't, when you play only to your little piece, you contribute to its fracturing.
In the end the Palin candidacy is a symptom and expression of a new vulgarization in American politics. It's no good, not for conservatism and not for the country. And yes, it is a mark against John McCain, against his judgment and idealism.
Letterman squeezes the truth out of McCain, via MSNBC:
(McCain) said he didn't know (Palin) well before choosing her, but that he was impressed by her reputation as a reformer.
Great. I was impressed to that end by Andrea Jefferson, the very last lady I talked to at Time Warner, the new field supervisor of all the techs for my area. I'm happy they seem to have put somebody who cares about reforming things in charge. I'm not about to vote for her for vice president.
Letterman repeatedly pressed McCain on her qualifications, asking if he was confident she could lead the country in a time of crisis."In all due respect, one of the people I admired most was an obscure governor of a southern state called Arkansas and he turned out to be a fairly successful president," McCain said, complimenting Bill Clinton. "Ronald Reagan was a cowboy, no experience in international affairs. I think she has shown leadership."
Bill Clinton was an international affairs student and Rhodes Scholar who worked as a clerk for the Foreign Relations committee. Ronald Reagan showed great interest in foreign affairs. Sarah wanted to be a newscaster, another pretty face on TV reading the news and her path diverged into local politics and then state politics in a state the size of a city. The thing is, since graduating from school, she doesn't seem to have read much news, other than the very local kind, over the years.
she hasn't even held a legit press conference yet. What a tragedy that the GOP refuses to let her go and answer questions. Parading towards Moscow, imo...
farker at October 17, 2008 7:26 AM
Did you hear what that stupid Palin said the other day: "The most important issue in this election is a 3-letter word: J-O-B-S !"
Oh wait, that was the brilliant Joe Biden who said that.
Robert W. at October 17, 2008 8:57 AM
If you think that Sarah Palin is qualified to lead the country that you live in with 2 wars going on,an energy crisis and a global financial meltdown by all means Vote Palin/McCain.That is about what it will come to
mandinkawarrior at October 17, 2008 9:39 AM
Mandinkawarrior, please list your nationality, and why we should care what you think of our election. Farker, Robert W., you guys too. We've had a lot of busybodies from other countries mouthing off in here lately.
Never forget, people-- Noonan took money from Enron. When it was found in her purse, she claimed she'd never intended to do anything earn it.
> No news conferences? Interviews
> now only with friendly
> journalists? You can't be
> president or vice president and
> govern in that style, as a
> sequestered figure
Now she tells us.
> In the end the Palin candidacy
> is a symptom and expression of a
> new vulgarization in American
> politics. It's no good, not for
> conservatism and not for the
> country. And yes, it is a mark
> against John McCain, against his
> judgment and idealism.
As God is my witness, if that woman were sitting in front of me today, I'd tell her to blow me. For a woman who claims to have loyally served the Reagan Revolution to whine about "vulgarization" is just inexcusable. The man she's always described as her hero was all about connecting meaningfully with people of every description. If he ever said a single word on behalf of elegance or exclusionary politics, I didn't hear it. The word "vulgus" translates as "common people"; Reagan's people.
Crid [cridcridatgmail] at October 17, 2008 10:33 AM
Blah blah blah. There's really nothing more than that in this piece.
Methinks Noonan is jealous. That's for sure what her little hot-mike comment smacked of.
momof3 at October 17, 2008 10:45 AM
Actually, here's an article I wrote on Sarah Palin and what makes her tick. Not saying you're wrong, Amy--this is just the method behind the madness:
http://vitriolicinsight.wordpress.com/2008/10/14/the-problem-with-palins-tribe/#comments
Kim at October 17, 2008 11:27 AM
I dunno, I hear the same sorts of manful emo stuff out of Obama, and he has similar foreign affair experience. Except he is the top of the card.
Also? the international affairs student and Rhodes scholar thing. Yeah, I went to collage with a number of people like that. One I remeber especially who was the student council prez... and stole one of my PoliSci papers Verbatim. What an imbicile. I don't write in a beautiful style, but it is unusual. The prof that the paper was handed into recognized it immediately. Student council prez takes a lot of hits for that and withdraws to go to another school. He's prolly the CEO of a company now, and skimming money from it...
Sadly bottom in line here, is even people you actually know, are difficult to figure out... Trying to get a grip on a far off political candidate is really hard. Thankfully there are a lot of checks and balances in government...
SwissArmyD at October 17, 2008 11:34 AM
Well, Villagraigosa, our mayor, reads lots about international affairs, but little or nothing about the city that he's supposed to run. Is that better?
But I think Noonan, like a number of other conservative writers, see the trainwreck ahead, and want to position themselves as being prescient, and as having clean hands.
She can't possibly think Obama, with all his education, is qualified as anything weightier than press secretary.
KateCoe at October 17, 2008 1:26 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2008/10/17/the_inciter.html#comment-1598236">comment from KateCoeWell, Villagraigosa, our mayor, reads lots about international affairs, but little or nothing about the city that he's supposed to run. Is that better?
Villaraigosa seems most interested in the international photo-op. I voted for Herzberg, of course!
And I'm with you on Noonan and her take on Obama.
Amy Alkon
at October 17, 2008 4:40 PM
Noonan comments in a style that does not persuade me. She thinks this, and she thinks that. The problem is, she doesn't quote or cite her sources.
I like opinion based on analysis. Noonan's work as quoted here is likely to seem great if you already hold her view, bad if you already disagree, and puzzling to me, who would like data along with insight.
I see a long list of impressions, and nothing backing these up. Maybe if I had read and seen everything that Noonan has, I would agree with her. What are those?
How about a more limited analysis backed up by her detailed observations. Maybe try to enlighten me a few thoughts at a time.
Andrew Garland at October 17, 2008 5:25 PM
We'll see, Amy. There are more of us than there are of you.
Good point, farker, she's obviously terrified that they'll ask about her grandson Trig.
It's so hilarious. The media tried to destroy her, it didn't work, and people are still grasping at her refusal to play their game as some sort of weakness on her part. But Obama's a shoe-in, sure, sure...
I am Joe.
Jim Treacher at October 18, 2008 8:08 AM
> There are more of us than
> there are of you.
Steyn covered this last night. Favorite passage: "A township that digs its own wells and plows its own roads is less susceptible to the beguiling notion that everything necessary in life is a mysterious "government service" to be provided by faceless bureaucrats far away."
Also, I thought the second comment here (from markusbiondi) was brilliant. Of course no serious Republican is going to vote for a half-term, no-accomplishment Democrat from Illinois. If it's racism that ruining Obama's candidacy, it must be in the hearts of Democratic voters.
Crid [cridcridatgmail] at October 18, 2008 11:35 AM
PS- I want more people to be pissed about Noonan. Garland's critique above hit the target: She's always been freefloating teenage girl-poet sort of commenter, and now we see that she's untethered to conservative principle entirely.
Crid [cridcridatgmail] at October 18, 2008 11:38 AM
PS- Who you call an inciter, I call a polemiscist.
Crid [cridcridatgmail] at October 18, 2008 1:42 PM
Jim, you are NOT Joe, no more than saying it makes it so.
Noonan is on target whether Noonan wrote it or Charles Krauthammer wrote it. Andrew Sullivan could turn around tomorrow and become a nutbag Palin groupie, and I still wouldn't be convinced, even though he's been pretty damn right about Palin so far, and I was against Palin as of August 30th, a few days before he.
What is mind-numbingly frustrating is the rampant cheerleading for this arrogant imbecile.
And Goddamnit, she better hold a press conference. This isn't the soviet effing union. You want communism, have a government that doesn't answer to anyone but themselves. Without her coming forward and answering to the press, we, as conservatives, have every right to complain about her and believe whatever crap is dug up about her, which is pretty lengthy at this point. I know her speech-writers better than I do Palin. Hell, even Joe the Plumber has held more press conferences than she. How shameful.
This is not the year to vote for a major party.
Carry on with your party-over-principle theme. Reality always prevails.
farker at October 18, 2008 1:50 PM
> Andrew Sullivan could turn
> around tomorrow
And probably will. As Kaus once noted, Sullivan's Oxford debate training taught him to win short-term arguments, not to adhere to big-theme principles. It's why I haven't read him since the invasion.
> And Goddamnit, she better
> hold a press conference.
Settle down, french fry. She's a candidate for veep, being seen by hundreds of journalists every day.
> How shameful.
What are you, a nun in a Catholic grade school?
> Reality always prevails.
That's kinda like a prayer, isn't it? Kinda like you just know that no matter what, reality/Jesus loves you very much, so that things need not be explained....
Crid [cridcridatgmail] at October 18, 2008 4:41 PM
I think Seipp would have loved Sarah. If Peggy finds Sarah declasse, fine. But what's her (and your) point? Sarah would be more qualified if she had 1)spent 125+ days as a nothingburger in the Senate? 2) spent three years sharing an office with Bill Ayers collaborating on grant to radicalize schools? 3)attended a church with a hate-spewing minister? 4)cozied up with Louis Farrakhan and his wife? 5)had a spouse who orders hotel champagne and lobster as an afternoon snack? 5)gave a nuanced oleaginous promise to "change the world" and reverse the effects of global warming? 6)played the system to the tune of 10s of millions of dollars gleaned from govt programs? These would be better qualifiers than having kicked butt successfully running a state government? Forget the ABC and NBC interviews. Sarah has intelligence, grit, style and the right stuff to skate right up the VP learning curve.
jehossaphat at October 19, 2008 1:28 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2008/10/17/the_inciter.html#comment-1598627">comment from jehossaphatDon't be a drama queen. I'm not a Democrat, nor am I a socialist -- nor are Rod Dreher or Kathleen Parker or George Will...all of whom are disgusted by the Palin pick for the same reason I am. As for me, I'm a fiscal conservative/social libertarian/personal responsibilitarian who is disgusted by all the choices for high office for different reasons. Palin is uninformed (about economics, foreign affairs and more -- and seems to have shown little interest in them in her 44 years on this planet) and McCain picked her and hoped it would work out okay, or maybe it's part of what Matt Welch has spoken and written of in his book about McCain. The guy seems most comfortable when he is the underdog and has tough odds. Maybe he threw himself a tough set.
P.S. What's wrong with ordering champagne and lobster if you can afford it? I guess you're talking about Obama and his wife. There a lot of reasons I dislike Obama, but would he really be a better person if he had a wife who ordered a bowl of boiled lentils?
Amy Alkon
at October 19, 2008 1:47 PM
Who's the drama queen? I'm happy, you're peaked. (Nobody said you were a Socialist. And the email wasn't to George Will et al. It was to you.) Well, of course, there's nothing wrong with lobster and champagne for the elites, while they spread around the wealth of others. That's the way it's always been done among leftists. It's called enlightened class stratification.
Why are you so confident that Palin's less informed on foreign affairs than the big O? Balderdash. And one more question: How can any Jew anywhere be worrying about Sarah Palin when we are about to put a man in the White House whose views resonate with global anti-Semitism and who keeps the Farrakhans as close family friends?
jehossaphat at October 19, 2008 3:33 PM
If we elect Obama, anybody who criticizes or even questions Obama will be Joe. And denying it doesn't make it otherwise.
You bet your fat ass I'm Joe.
Jim Treacher at October 19, 2008 10:05 PM
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