I have never been interested in politics until this year. Accordingly, I had the popcorn ready and settled down to watch the Biden/Palin debate. My prediction was that Palin would have at least two OMG moments; I was counting on it. Here folksy wisdom careening into political blunder was going to be my entertainment. Instead, she did a reasonable job considering that she is essentially out of her league.
I really enjoy the use of Twitter and other technologies to parse debate transcripts. I tend to notice that Republicans use “fight”, “fear”, and other emotionally-charged words more frequently than Democrats, at least since I started paying attention. That’s no suprise I suppose since we all know Republicans have been wildly successfuly with the use of emotional appeal, which is, after all, a logical fallacy. But I don’t blame Republicans. I blame people for responding. If we don’t buy the b.s. they’re selling, then they’ll come up with a new product. How’s that for a free-market economy?
But, back to the debate. I wouldn’t say that Palin performed well, but she didn’t screw up. She repeated the phrases she had been taught, and glued the canned text together with her brand of straight talk. But how can we fail to notice that when the necessity of diplomacy in foreign policy is debated, that Joe Biden spoke of actual countries and actual areas of contention that need diplomacy; whereas, Palin spoke about overcoming the challenges of being part of a diverse family. While the ability to navigate family life is in fact part of life’s great journey, it’s a poor choice as analogy for international politics.
Oh. And did I mention I’m from Alaska? I lived in Palmer for several years; just a hop, skip, and a jump from Wasilla. Dude. She’s from Wasilla, Alaska. And yes, while my appeal to geographic origin is a logical fallacy as well, the difference is that I’m right.
