The past two weeks have been nothing but newsworthy soundbites, bailout drama, debate debacle and political maneuvers. Amongst all this news Sarah Palin, the little politician that could, was devoured by the media every time she opened her mouth- which has been disturbingly frequent as of late. Charlie Gibson, Katie Couric and even a Temple University grad student all unraveled her knack for, well, sounding uneducated and uninformed. SNL has had a hell of a time using her real life bloopers for their skits. All in all it's a funny situation. Even hardcore conservatives who once supported Palin are all about telling her to step down for the sake of the country. But come election, which is only a few short weeks away, is anyone honestly going to vote for or against her because of her unintelligible gibberish? I'd venture a guess and say no- I mean, this is a country that elected President Bush. Twice.
Poking fun at Sarah Palin has become a favorite pasttime for many, myself included. It's so...easy. I started thinking though, since Palin started opening her mouth with unscripted talks at an alarming frequency everyone has seemed to have forgotten about all of her negligent actions as Mayor and as Governor. What happened with Troopergate? Why are we not demanding that a verdict be reached sooner than later? A few weeks ago a story broke about how she charged per diem for spending hundreds of nights in her own Alaskan home and took her children and husband frequently on business trips for which the state paid. I haven't heard anything else about it since then. The people are not asking the obvious- why was Governor Palin charging a per diem to stay in her own home? Why did the state pay for her children and husband to attend business trips? Couldn't the money have been better spent on education or health care? Nobody is talking about the astounding $19 million debt Palin left the city of Wasilla, a town with no long term debt previous to her tenure as mayor. These are real issues that need to be considered in this election and they disappeared in the night as suddenly as the spunky Alaskan Governor emerged on the national political radar.
Come November will Americans be well versed on these "Palin issues" or will their focus remain on her manner of speaking, which will surely be spinned as endearing in the next few weeks and compared to as a 'main street' person, wining her rural votes across the country? Perhaps the McCain is smarter than we all thought. While Palin becomes increasingly known as a ditz, all of the pertinent issues in this election are quietly swept under the rug by the campaign. All jokes aside, we need to focus on the issues that have raised questions about her integrity and ability to lead this great nation and we need to take these questions to her and the McCain campaign. This is our election, why are we so silent?
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I'm rather concerned, to be honest, that Palin and the GOP is quietly making a tidy little tribute to the 2000 election. Back then, Gore and the Democrats so soundly trashed Bush's intelligence before the debate that they, in effect, lowered the bar. All *he* had to do was not sound like a crack-addled lobotomy patient and people would actually be impressed that he wasn't quite as bad as the opposition made him out to be.
Even if Palin is utterly incomprehensible, she's succeeded at this before, winning debates with only vague generalities and niceties despite her opponents' clearly superior grasp of the issues. People want to feel smart, S-M-R-T smart, and Biden is just the guy to come off as the pompous, overly aggressive, haughty villain if he pays Palin any mind at all. I am watching the debates intently, but not without a drink in one hand and something throwable in the other...
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