She certainly has the form. Does she have the substance?
With the televising of the Kennedy-Nixon debates in 1960, image as a selector of electability began rising in importance. In our video-deluged world, how one comes across on the screen is critical. It’s what the broadcast industry used to call TVQ: (television quotient—personality popularity ratings, typically measuring familiarity and liking, characterized by viewer surveys asking respondents to tell whether a personality is “one of their favorites”).
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, McCain’s pick for veep, has an excellent image; she is attractive, charismatic, dynamic, self-assured, aggressive, yet not off-putting. But like the choices made by FDR and Bush the Elder, she was on no ones short list (except for blogger Adam Brickley, who has been waving Palin’s veep flag unceasingly since February 2007!).
When chosen as FDR’s running mate in 1944, Harry S. Truman was a senator from Missouri who had gained modest fame and respect with his investigation of WWII military wastefulness by exposing fraud and mismanagement (popularly known as the “Truman Committee“). With FDR’s failing health a secret, yet grave issue, and whoever became vice president a likely successor, Truman was a compromise choice; neither FDR nor the Democratic Party put him first.
Elected at 33 in 1980 as Indiana’s senator, Dan Quayle was chosen in 1988 by Bush to appeal to a younger generation of Americans. Interestingly, he was then praised by Senator John McCain, who said “I can’t believe a guy that handsome wouldn’t have some impact.”
For the next several weeks Palin will bask in the media glow of the Republican National Convention. Then comes her test. She will be under a microscope. She will debate Joe Biden. Many media pundolts will toss softballs, but some will peg her with hardballs.
Will she come across as an intelligent and effective leader (Truman) or as just another pretty face (Quayle) who can’t spell “potatoe”?
By election day, this will not be an unanswered question.
4 Comments
Great and timely writing, as usual. I’m sure by now you have heard of Palin’s teenage daughter’s pregnancy, which is in juxtaposition with Palin’s strong support of “Abstinance only” education in the schools.
MORE INTERESTING: She was recently affiliated with the Alaska Secessionist Party, which calls into question her loyalty to our United States.
As I’m a very topical person, I’m hoping you will do some research and put this into some perspective for myself and your other readers.
Thanks!
Thanks for your comment about the Alaskan Independence Party membership. See my next post.
My hunch is Palin will cream Biden in the debates.
Every time Biden pulls rank, she will appeal to the dumb American’s hatred of anything elite, expert, and intellectual.
We are moving into a Dumbocracy.
There’s got to be a technical or medical or arcano-political term for this: the drift down towards the LCD.
Biden was on Meet the Press on 9/7. See how he dealt with the Palin question:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/26591000#26591000
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