The Nation: Sarah Palin's Debate Performance Tanked Among Women ('The Rules' Girl)

[Hissyspit]

http://www.alternet.org/reproductivejustice/101536/sarah_palin%27s_debate_performance_tanked_among_women

Sarah Palin's Debate Performance Tanked Among Women

By Linda Hirshman, TheNation.com. Posted October 3, 2008.

Palin is a lot like a '90s "Rules Girl." She follows a playbook that men respond to -- one that gives women indigestion.

I have been feeling really guilty about not liking Sarah Palin. She's independent, her husband helps raise the kids, she's worked most of her life. I should luv her. But the minute she minced on stage in St. Louis Thursday, with her shoulder-length hair and stiletto heels, I realized why I don't: she's The Rules Girl.

- snip -

But for decades, the voting-age population has been predominantly female: women vote at a greater rate and usually a little differently from men. Despite all the talk of disaffected Hillary supporters crossing over to the GOP after Obama's nomination, serious pollsters found no such thing. Some pundits say Palin did fine last night, but thanks to CNN, we were able to test in real time exactly how the Palin performance played with women voters. CNN provided a little chart that shows how the debaters were faring with a focus group of independent voters from the swing state of Ohio. On the chart, the men's reactions show up green and women in orange. Guess what? Palin really tanked among those women. There were times when the line showing the women's disapproval of her answers sank so low it threatened to leap off the screen and start crawling down the wall behind the TV. I'm imagining those Ohio independents as having a vivid picture of a fully made-up, dimpled, winking woman trying to work the crowd from her tattered copy of The Rules.
- snip -

The danger is, of course, when a situation arises for which the notecards do not have an answer. When Gwen Ifill asked a question Palin did not have a notecard answer for -- whether she agreed with Vice President Cheney's egregiously overreaching interpretation of the constitutional role of the vice president -- the answer was ladled up straight from the Palin linguistic smorgasbord:

"Well, our founding fathers were very wise there in allowing through the Constitution much flexibility there in the office of the vice president. And we will do what is best for the American people in tapping into that position and ushering in an agenda that is supportive and cooperative with the president's agenda in that position. Yeah, so I do agree with him that we have a lot of flexibility in there, and we'll do what we have to do to administer very appropriately the plans that are needed for this nation. And it is my executive experience that is partly to be attributed to my pick as VP with McCain, not only as a governor, but earlier on as a mayor, as an oil and gas regulator, as a business owner. It is those years of experience on an executive level that will be put to good use in the White House, also."

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In the weeks ahead, expect Palin to keep following The Rules to be the bright, shiny object McCain needs in his charisma-challenged campaign. No matter how well she does this, however, it may not make a bit of difference. It pains me to say this, but in 2001, just as the book's happily married, perfectly coiffed, complaisant co-author Ellen Fein was releasing a sequel, The Rules for a Happy Marriage, her husband left her.

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[vaberella]

1. Thanks. Great article. It's when you read the transcript of the debate is Palin cringe worthy.

Oy...just that quote made absolutely no sense to me. I didn't understand a thing she was saying, the waffling was poorly done. I was totally lost in a barage of words that were strung together but meant nothing.

Oh, and the amount of note-card reading.

[fasttense]

2. It always amazes me how these neocon females who claim

to know everything about marriage, never seem to be able to stay married.

Yet their books still sell. Buying their books and following the crap they write is like taking financial advice from a pauper.

[lamp_shade]

3. There is no "there" there. "Well, our founding fathers... blah, etc"

She uses the word "there" 3 times in that argument alone. She uses it all the time.... "up there in Alaska". Maybe it's me, but it sticks out every time she says the word, and it gets on my nerves.

[morillon]

4. She uses "that" a lot, too.

When she's talking about something in general terms, she overuses it. Instead of just saying "integrity" or "courage," she'll say "that integrity" or "that courage." It's a weird and very annoying way of speaking.

[Berry Cool]

5. It's blue-book filler, translated to spoken words.

Anybody who has ever taken a "blue-book" essay exam they didn't really study for that well knows what I mean. You try to write your words in very large handwriting to fill the pages of that little blue book, and you try to use extra and completely unnecessary words. You also write a lot of statements that don't really say anything, just to fill the space. (That's what the stuff about the Founding Fathers was. She's always throwing stuff in there about "the Founding Fathers" and "this great nation of ours" and so on, just to fill space and have something to say with which no one can take offense.)

She is a walking, talking blue-book essay exam taken by someone who didn't really study for the test and has no idea whatsoever how to address the questions or what the correct answers are, but is trying to write REALLY big and in REALLY LONG sentences that, when you really look at them, don't say jack-anything.

[BumRushDaShow]

6. OMG you just took me back almost 30 years to those blue books!

I suddenly got a picture of one in my head! :rofl:

[burythehatchet]

8. She talks to people like they are 2nd graders. She is one more step towards

reaching the absolute lowest common denominator in voters.

[old mark]

7. I'm a man. I can't stand her. either.

She is a disgrace to what ever college she supposedly graduated from.
She has no idea that language has rules, and I believe she assumes throwing a lot of verbiage around makde her sound intelligent.
She has no idea of the meaning of words.
She thinks she is smarter than other people, and she thinks she can overcome a lack of real knowledge by speaking volumes of bullshit.

She does not respect her audience, the people in general,government in general, or the US.

mark

[MissWaverly]

9. she ignored Biden's remark on losing his wife and 2 kids

just covered it up with bright chatter. Isn't that what we have had for the last 8 years. Despite all the happy talk of George Bush, 9-11 ground zero is 2 steps above the crater it was 8 years ago and Katrina is still a mess and Iraq!!! Now our economy is busted due to his incompetent, loyal Bushies and we may not get universal health care due to our wealth care for the top 1%.