******The Challenge is to Make Palin Not Likeable******

[Nikki Stone1]

Remember "likeable"? That was how George W. Bush went from a failed businessman and a mediocre politician to President of the United States. Al Gore knew about global warming, technology and international issues, but people wanted to have a beer with Bush. That seems to be how Americans vote, especially those all important non-ideological swing voters.

The Palin choice has been compared to Dan Quayle, but that is incorrect, Palin is more like George W. Bush (or at least his image): She's sure about what little she knows, though she doesn't know much about foreign policy, or even domestic policy. She has strong values, even though she is a flawed person who falls short in so many ways of these values. She believes that she has a personal relationship with the deity and that this deity wants Americans at war. (She also seems to have Dubya's penchant for cronyism and revenge on opponents.) She is an odd mass of contradiction--a strong anti-feminist who wants to take away the very rights that allow her to be where she is.

But here's the problem: She's LIKEABLE.

She's friendly and the average person might like to have a beer with her. (And it would be a beer, not Chardonnay.) She is photogenic, looks good on TV, and has a speaking style that is more intimate than oratorical. She speaks as if she is talking directly to a person or small group of people, not to the masses on a grand scale. In this way she is a better speaker than Bush: she reminds me, a little, of the Big Dog.

Hitting Palin on the issues will not work. If she's likeable enough, many independent voters may ignore the issues because they like her. Because they feel they know her. People can ignore a lot of bad news about someone if they like her enough.

What can we do about this?

The obvious answer is make her NOT likeable. We have to somehow demonstrate that she is NOT the person you want to have a beer with. But the question is how.

*The pregnant daughter has not done it. A lot of spin has gone into making the pregnant daughter "a normal problem in the best of families" and the evangelicals (who seem to live by "Do as I say, not as I do") have gathered in her defense.

*Troopergate might, if the whole story got out, but it might be too complicated for the casual voter.

*Gas, oil, earmarks, Bridge to Nowhere--forget it. Most people won't care if they like her. They'll consider these sour grapes by the Democrats.


So what do we do?

I say go find the people she fired or tried to fire without cause: the librarian, for example, and have them speak out about how nasty Palin really is.
Find people she has hurt who are willing to go on the record
IF the affair is true, find the wife of Palin's lover and put her on as the most sympathetic character

We need to fight her likeability.

What won't work: Fighting on the issues, her experience. The Right is cynically using "sexism" as a way to deflect much criticism. They can do this, unfortunately, because of the way both the right and the left treated Hillary Clinton during the primary.

(BTW, don't bring Clinton out to crush Palin. In a Miss Congeniality contest, Palin will win. You need to bring the most likeable Democratic women and men in to go after her.)

Another thing that might help is if Obama could become more personable, less academic. We like Obama, but he represents our values. Indie voters see him as more aloof, less approachable. This came out in the primaries: Hillary Clinton could bowl and have a beer with people and relate on a personal level. Obama still hasn't gotten that knack. He still seems like that law professor that speaks well but doesn't relate well, at least to middle America. We need to boost Obama's likeability factor.

Meanwhile, we have to show why Palin is not really likeable. That is the challenge.

[bidenista]

1. we need to ignore her and get back to mccain

Focusing on her these last few days was supremely stupid, and will have boosted the viewers for her speech massively. Let's get back to the focus of the campaign - OBAMA VS MCCAIN.

[casus belli]

2. Agreed. Leave her to Biden and the media.

A few appearances without the assistance of a teleprompter and the new paint will start to peel.

[Nikki Stone1]

4. You didn't read the post, did you.

That is what I worry about: people who don't get what we're really up against.

[casus belli]

9. Sure did, and the point stands.

The likeability you profess she has is the fresh paint. What you see of her is a caricature of what she really is. Given time, what she really is, where she really stands, and her lack of any understanding of the job for which she has essentially applied will become increasingly apparent to the American people.

They gave her a shiny new paint job to put her on parade. The closer a look people get, the more they will see that it's covering up a number of flaws and weaknesses.

[Nikki Stone1]

26. I'll believe you for the sake of peace on the thread

And I think you are wrong about the American people. Many don't look beyond the makeup and the teleprompter.

[Nikki Stone1]

27. I'll believe you for the sake of peace on the thread

And I think you are wrong about the American people. Many don't look beyond the makeup and the teleprompter.

[Nikki Stone1]

3. You can't ignore her. She will be EVERYWHERE

She needs to be brought down. McCain can be fought on issues. Palin can't. Mark my words on this one. There's a reason Newt and Rove wanted this woman. Don't underestimate her. We underestimated Bush and look where that got us.

[bidenista]

6. she will thrive on the oxygen of publicity

Just.Ignore.Her. Bush was the pres. candidate - she's not. She's a VP candidate. Big difference.

[Marsala]

7. She won't be everywhere

She'll be in hiding from the eeeevil "liberal" media. They'll bring her out for photo ops and cheap shots.

[samuraiguppy]

5. can you pass the crack pipe

over here? I want a few tokes of what you are smoking because from here this fat beee--yitch is not at all likeable.

[Drunken Irishman]

8. Wednesday, she killed the likeable charge.

Bush was good at not going directly after Kerry or Gore in his speeches during the election, allowing 3rd parties to rough both up. Because of that, people liked him and believed he was staying above the fray. Palin, however, went hard after Obama, did little to define herself and showed just how unlikeable she can be.

[grannie4peace]

10. i don't like her..

[DarthDem]

11. Ridiculous

(1) She's an irrelevant goof.

(2) She's taking care of that all by herself.

[elkston]

12. Obama is *NOT* unapproachable.

***
Another thing that might help is if Obama could become more personable, less academic. We like Obama, but he represents our values. Indie voters see him as more aloof, less approachable. This came out in the primaries: Hillary Clinton could bowl and have a beer with people and relate on a personal level. Obama still hasn't gotten that knack. He still seems like that law professor that speaks well but doesn't relate well, at least to middle America. We need to boost Obama's likeability factor.
***

This myth is being shattered every day on the campaign trail. Obama is good with people and becomes doubly effective if Biden is there with him.

Also, he is making his arguments quicker and sharper in his stump speeches.

And he has NEVER been unapproachable, IMHO.

[Nikki Stone1]

28. Look, I love the man. But sometimes, he comes across like a college professor

and many people find that off putting.

I, for one, am glad to have an educated person who is not afraid of appearing educated running for office. But I wish he came off warmer, especially when giving speeches.

I hope you are right and that he is good one-on-one on the campaign trail. And sorry if I seem excessively worried, but for the first time I feel like we are facing an energized whack-a-doodle RW fringe that could win.

[elkston]

13. *Double Post* (removed)

[Why Syzygy]

14. Pat Buchanan

said they need to have her give public speeches but no access to the media. Recipe for disaster.
Matthews asked him how he proposed to do that.

IOW, the only way to keep her likability score up is to keep her closely guarded and on message.

[Marsala]

17. The way to "do that":

Declare that the media is out to destroy her and that they refuse to stoop to such biased coverage. Only fair and balanced media outlets will receive access. McCain himself will probably behave similarly.

Of course, it will never work. You can't declare war on the media and win. At least, not without repealing the 1st Amendment.

[Why Syzygy]

23. I know. That's why I said..

"recipe for disaster". Howard Dean eschewed the media, and they tombstoned him.
Let her try it.

[Nikki Stone1]

31. I hope you are right. And the media does tend to get upset when they are dissed.

That might be the Achilles heel.

[Skidmore]

15. Palin is * in a skirt.

The same condescending sense of entitlement. Vindictive and small minded. Only concerned about short term gains.

[Marsala]

22. That's the angle. And the Dems are already on it.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/03/rnc.democrats.reaction/index.html

[non sociopath skin]

16. Palin will always be likeable to her political and religious base ...

... because she is "one of them" in her beliefs and lifestyle.

And nothing the Dems can do or say will change that,

But independent voters are not so likely to be seduced.

It's her - and McCain's - politics that you need to dwell on.

The same thing is happening here in the UK. "Dave" Cameron, the Conservative leader, is a good-looking, casually-dressed guy who -in spite of the fact that he comes from a wealthy family and had the most expensive education money can buy - is good at looking and sounding like a regular guy.

No-one has any idea of his policies or of what he'd do in office - but he and his party are way ahead in the opinion polls.

Obama and Biden need to hammer home their policies while deconstructing the Repugs'.

As we say in soccer, "Play the ball, not the man".

The Skin

[WeDidIt]

18. Hit Her on the Community ORganizer mocking

Community ORganizers right now across this country are helping people save their homes, get healthcare, and find jobs.

She blew it on the economy last night.

[Nikki Stone1]

29. Most people don't know what a community organizer does

It might be nice to have someone like Olbermann take that on.

[C_U_L8R]

19. Personally I didn't find her likable at all

I found her to be sarcastic and underhanded.
Her speech was manipulative but not truthful.
Sure she wrapped it in syrupy aw shucksness
but that was a thin veneer over a very hateful message.
I believe that Sarah Palin is a very dislikable person.. a bossy person
and a person who believes the ends justify the means.
I also saw a very vain person.. from her fake glasses that feign intelligence
to her fake overbleached smile and her fake overpreening personality.
I see an insecure person who seeks dominion over others
and is frustrated when individuals don't do as she says.
Come to think of it, a lot of this sounds like George Bush,
but I'm afraid it's much worse than that,

[LooseWilly]

20. Yes, and No.

Certainly, attacks on Palin's likeability are a good idea. (not to mention, they sound like fun). It seems to me though, that it's important not to get tied up with her... and distracted to the point the answering McCain is forgotten about.
Palin, it seems to me, can be casually, consistently, and low-key-ly torn down by simple repetition. Sort of off the cuff/ casual judgments passed to the media should do the trick, I have a feeling. After all, the media has no idea what her "deal" is.. so they'll be happy to explore any reasonable line of doubt. Why bother to try to push the findings partisan-ly, when it can be floated by the media, in a more independent fashion?...

Meanwhile... the rest of the time and effort can be spent on making sure that the McCain media image is approprately sullied.

Of course, there's always the worry that Republicans un-excited about McCain might vote for him just so they can try to off him and have Palin left over as ideologue-in-charge...

It's a moment of many possibilities... need some time to see if anything resolves itself...

[Nikki Stone1]

30. What kind of off-the-cuff things?

I do worry that fundies want McCain dead so they can have the RW whack-a-doodle run things.

[kywildcat]

21. It's simple-

She can easily be described/discredited his way:
We all have a family member, coworker, or friend who is likable but a proven liar. Would you entrust your business decisions or the family estate to this likable liar?
and...Bush was a likable liar as well, lotta good that did us.
btw-the AP has a 'fact check' story on the speaches last night...not a lot of facts were found. I read the article and it didn't out and out call her a liar, but it does say that the truth was stretched quit a bit.

[MrModerate]

24. I found her supremely unlikeable during her speech . . .

I'll give you the more intimate than oratorical, but otherwise she struck me entirely differently. She was mean, in a snotty, superior way. She was "my shit don't stink" smug. She was scary -- she caressed the line about reading Al Qaeda their rights and I could see new prison camps erected in Arizona reflected in her eyes.

After the media -- amazed that she didn't swallow her tongue -- gets over it, they're going to have to go back to digging the dirt. Which they'll do happily, because it's what they do.

Her speech -- a rhetorical nightmare, utterly worthy of Bush's spielmeisters -- hit preprogrammed applause buttons among the ranks of nearly identical Stepford delegates. The people I watched the speech with were alternately howling, cursing, and spitting on the screen.

However, I agree with some of what you propose. She needs to be hit on substantive issues, not values issues. Despite the fact that her values are creepy and extreme, they're too squidgy to be effectively hit via soundbite. We can gain traction over a week or so, but quick hits on her values may be out.

However, the corruption issue will play and she's as dirty as they come. She evicted the previous generation of Alaskan Republican criminals not because she was such a reformer, but because she wanted to be the new boss. They were fat, happy, and old. She whacked 'em when they weren't looking -- like she whacked the bunny rabbit within minutes of getting her first gun as a girl. If that's not scary to reasonable people (by which I mean, those not already committed to McCain) I don't know what is.

Troopergate isn't too complicated. We play the "abuse of power -- Just like Bush . . ." card.

And as for obsessing over her for the last few days, I feel we got the better of that. Palin is a flash in the pan. McCain is the candidate and he's going to need to reassert himself. She can't carry this campaign (neither can McCain for that matter). The brouhaha has prevented the RNC from putting forth anything that would convince anyone not already convinced to vote for them. I don't see much of a bounce coming out of the convention. And to the degree that Palin is going to be allowed to campaign (and she has to show her face in at least a few unscripted venues) she's going to revert to what she's comfortable with -- and I don't think the voters will like that very much.

Bottom line: we need to go after McCain. While Palin is barely qualified to be ex-mayor of Wasilla, McCain is profoundly unqualified to be president. That's what we need to show. Given what will be -- IBMBD -- a lame speech tomorrow, Obama and Biden should be able to build their lead by doing what they've been doing: talking to the people in inspiring, adult tones, with real ideas and genuine concern for governing.

[Nikki Stone1]

25. I hope you are right

But I fear that it won't be that easy.

I was out at the store today talking to neighbors and they LOVED Palin. They liked the fact that she went after Barack and they liked the pit-bull line.

To us, she is smarmy and smug and nasty; but to the people I was talking to today at the market, Sarah Palin was just peachy. One woman in line was convinced that Sarah would drill for oil in Alaska and our prices at the pump would go down. One guy just liked her attitude. These were not evangelicals, and they live in a fairly liberal area. I was really surprised. I told the one woman that Obama had said he would drill responsibly, but she just refused to believe it.

Now that I know Sarah is GOPAC, I am even more worried. She's a Gingrich protege. It puts her firing of Wasilla public servants (and going after the librarian) in a more threatening context.

We have to make Sarah unlikeable to the conservatives.

[MrModerate]

40. We will always be at risk of losing the moron-American vote . . .

Because outside of fight-or-flight responses, you can't tell what will motivate them. I think it's a waste of resources to work too hard to bring them in. Focus on sentient voters.

[TNMOM]

32. She is dispicable. She lost the middle with her hate. eom.

[Matariki]

33. Soap Opera Villainess. It will 'appeal' to her 'base'

And she's got all the makings of one, so it won't be difficult.

[Barack_America]

34. No, the challenge is to remind people what happens when you put an idiot in the White House.

And to remind people that she is not qualified to be President.

[Leo 9]

35. Just keep documenting and reporting on her lies.

That'll do it.
--------------

Attacks, praise stretch truth at GOP convention

By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer
Wed Sep 3, 11:48 PM ET

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth.

PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."

THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. In her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. While Palin notes she rejected plans to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to an island with 50 residents and an airport, that opposition came only after the plan was ridiculed nationally as a "bridge to nowhere."

PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform — not even in the state senate."

THE FACTS: Compared to McCain and his two decades in the Senate, Obama does have a more meager record. But he has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, he was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.

snip

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_fact_check_11

[Nikki Stone1]

37. Will the independents care?

Sometimes I wonder how some people remain so uninformed. I heard someone say today that he has no dog in this hunt and is going to write in his collie. :(

[begin_within]

36. To make her not likeable, do things that will bring out her true self.

[ContinentalOp]

38. Yeah, some "challenge" that is.

:eyes:

[Danger Mouse]

39. It won't be too hard.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

41. scandal with Ted Stevens and Abramoff should finish her off?