Saturday, August 30, 2008
Jonah Goldberg on Palin's speaking style:At NRO: The way she talks. She has something of a native Alaskan's accent/speaking style. When I heard her speak last month, I was stunned by how parochial she sounds, not substantively, but stylistically. She refers to herself not as a mom or mother but as a "mama." If she's the pick —and it sounds like she— I think this could be both an advantage and disadvantage. The disadvantage is that the press will make fun of her for it. The folks at Slate and New York magazine will titter at the rube from the provinces. Look at what sophisticated talkers Biden and Obama are compared to this bumpkin! (You'll get a similar but more shrill line of argument from feminists who will immediately claim she's not a real woman for whatever b.s. reason). This in turn could be a great advantage for her and the ticket because she'll play well in Peoria as an authentic American woman (and man, oh, man will the Nascar crowd love her husband). The cosmopolitanism of the Democratic ticket will stand out in even starker relief. But remember: at the end of the day all of the scorn and ridicule visited upon Bush for his cowboyish way of talking probably helped him.
posted by Quiddity at 8/30/2008 05:15:00 AM
2 comments
Jeez, Q, I usually try to avoid reading Jonah Goldberg but you gave such prominence that I was compelled.
Reading between the lines, we can see Palin's weak points and Goldbergs attempt to defend them before the attacks. The points are her anti-abortion stance and her lack of experience/knowledge.
Goldberg also brought up the elist claim against Obama. Some time has passed since the right started that one going. Looking back, I have to say they didn't get a lot of traction out of it. Did it?
I'm thinking about the time Paul Patton ran for governor the second time in KY. The GOP had nobody willing to bite the bullet and lose, so they threw up a Palin-eque nominal candidate (Peppy Martin). I saw her outside of Lowe's handing out fliers, and I just saw 'lady', not 'future governor'. Patton won by over 20 points. Even voters in KY didn't want a regular person for governor. Bush ran as a 'regular guy' (hah!), people knew he wasn't regular. People want someone who's exceptional in some way. Obama, Biden, and McCain are, Palin isn't.
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