A Little More on Sarah Palin
For the first few weeks after the Palin appointment, I was way too angry at the McCain campaign for feeling like they should manipulate women in the way they were so obviously doing. It made me so livid I could hardly even wrap my head around Sarah Palin herself.
Though, as I have spent more time paying attention to what she is saying, I really can’t help but feel absolutely terrible for her. Here’s the thing. I really don’t think that she is as stupid or as incompetent as she seems in interviews. I think the problem is that she is not prepared.
It’s not a lack of experience, really, but it is that she was not working towards a federal government position. It was a last minute decision by the McCain campaign that was foisted on her. I mean, yes, she did have to *accept* the nomination, but I am sure she had no idea just how difficult this would be.
This really has nothing to do with her credentials, or her gender, or her right wing nuttiness. She comes off as stupid because she has not had time to think her arguments through. She has not lived her life dealing with federal government issues and she has not learned how to play the game yet (though I can see how many people would think that is a good thing — I’ve met more than one liberal terrified of Obama’s charisma)
The way she is arguing and stumbling over her words in the Katie Couric interview is strikingly similar to the sorts of conversations I tend to have with people I disagree with. Neither of us are prepared to talk about it, so we mumble and meander through topics without really forming an excellent argument. I don’t think this makes me, or my debate opponent stupid, it just makes us inexperienced in debate and really indicates a lack of knowledge and forethought about a subject.
But once again, I don’t see this as a result of Sarah Palin herself, I think the issue is that she is suddenly in a position with is new, different, and not one that she was planning for in any way.