Palin Power

Ted Belman I first published the following article in Jan ’10. I stumbled upon it today I liked it so much, I thought I would post it again with an update.

Palin can’t be ignored. She has great power. She is forever shining her light on one issue or another and in all cases she is the first to do so or the first to make a difference. In every case the public agrees with her.

Here’s what comes to mind;
“death panels”; “coddling our enemies and alienating our friends”;
focus on the Gulf not golf; on immigration, “Mr President, do your job”;
on preventing the coming tax increase, “where’s the plan, man”; the mosque “is a stab in the heart”; on the deficit, “stop digging the hole”;”Cap and Tax not Cap and Trade”;(I’ll keep adding as I think of more).

Palin prefers issues to labels. Because of this her appeal will make inroads with like minded Democrats and Independants. She has already made her claim to the woman’s vote. She has just begun to make her claim on the Union vote. Both are democratic strongholds.

Palin is framing the debate. “my common sense v your bullcrap” .

By Ted Belman

Sara Palin is hated by the left either for her policies or her “stupidity” or, more likely, both. I have been a supported of hers ever since she eviscerated Obama in her nomination acceptance speech. Yet I had strong reservations because she tuned me off when being interviewed. She was too verbose, superficial and repetitive. She was anything but intellectual. How many times have you heard her repeat common sense solutions, put the government back on the side of the people, get out of the way of private enterprise, lower taxes because the people know best how to spent their money and so on.

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I now see this style as an asset.

Tell a lie often enough and people will believe it. So much more so for the truth. When you want to sell anything, you must brand it as “the best”. It is immaterial whether it is or not. And while you are at it, brand your competition as “the worst”. Selling is not appealing to the intellect but to the emotions.

The same goes for winning elections. They are all about imaging and positioning. Is a candidate conservative or liberal, likable or nerdy or smart or stupid? Candidates understand this and campaign on broad stokes and not detailed policies. Being considered an intellectual is often an albatross. It was blamed for Adlai Stephenson’s defeat.

Democrats know all about positive and negative branding. Throughout the Bush 43 presidency, they branded him as stupid or a cowboy, or a frat boy. They repetitively flaunted soundbites like “Bush lied, people died”. Thus the ground work was laid for “hope and change”. The “Messiah” had come.

Obama simply blamed Bush for the mess. He even succeeded in blaming Bush for the economic meltdown though it was democratic policies (sub-prime mortgages) that contributed most to it. He is still blaming Bush for our problems but after a year in office its wearing thin.

Ever since Palin arrived on the scene and gave the McCain/Palin ticket a much need boost, the liberal media and the left have subjected Palin to the slimiest characterization I have ever witnessed. In contrast had they presented the truth about Obama’s past associations, record of no accomplishment, academic record and Marxist tendencies, Obama would not have stood a chance.

They will live to regret, if they don’t already, that they forced Palin to resign from her Governorship by harassing her with 15 ethics lawsuits thereby freeing her to go on the attack nationally.

Sarah Palin is a fighter, a barracuda or a pitbull, with lipstick of course. She is on the prowl for Obama.

More than anyone else, she is responsible for the decline in the prospects, for not only Obamacare but for Obama’s presidency as well.

Palin endeared herself to conservatives because she took on Obama in her acceptance speech. Unfortunately McCain didn’t have the stomach for it and muzzled her instead. Now she is calling the shots.

By repeating her mantra in every speech or comment she makes, she is branding herself. She presents her policies as axiomatic, requiring no proof and the public is accepting them as such. She is negatively characterizing Obama and his policies.

She participated in the pre and post analysis of Obama’s SOTU address on Fox News and the next day was interviewed by Greten van Susteren. In answer to the first question she said

Well, you know, listening to his speech last night, I was kind of getting some whiplash there. I’d listen to what he was saying, then I’d whip my head down there and read the text to try to figure out what is he actually saying here? How does what he is saying match up to the actions that he’s taken thus far? Because the acts that he’s taken thus far will not get the jobs created, as he says he desires.

That speech was so full of contradictions last night. And I know that, you know, afterwards, as we analyze it, we’re supposed to be, you know, quite diplomatic and analytic and quite gracious in our commentary. But come on! You know, again, so full of contradictions that the American public, I think, listened to the thing and said, How are jobs going to be created when you talk about cap and tax, which is taxing energy, which will prohibit more developments across our nation, when you talk about the second jobs bill, which is a stimulus bill, more spending, which is going to require tax increases to pay for these things. How in the world is that going to help the middle class? How will that help job creation?

In the first paragraph she is contrasting his words with his deeds. The public is already beginning to ignore what he says and Palin will speed that process along.

In the second paragraph she starts her attack by saying “But come on.” and then lets loose. Name me one other politicians who is so direct. Palin is also good at ridiculing Obama. In all her speeches she deflates him with her ridicule. I love it.

She is framing the debate. “my common sense v your bullcrap”