Picking up on Steve’s "Gaffeology" below, I don’t like saying that I think some of the reaction to Obama’s lipstick comment has been unfair. But I think it has. I don’t think he meant to imply that Sarah is a pig because I don’t think he is accustomed to that kind of speech (at least not in public--though he’s got some even more interesting language in his serial autobiography). But it is revelatory, as you say Steve, because he’s also not accustomed to the kind of speech of which the (commonly used--remember Fred Thompson’s use of it) pig in lipstick quote is representative. That is, he’s not used to speaking in the language of the people. He is used to a kind of kingly or professorial speech. So he makes a botch of these lines when he tries to use them. Steve’s right--it shows that he is rattled and it was a "flub" rather than a "gaffe." But I suspect that he is trying to use these lines because of his biggest gaffe of all--and one Steve neglected to mention.
Don’t forget the gaffe that, in the end when the pundits have processed this whole election through the meat-grinder of their would-be analysis, will not squeeze through the machine. His remarks in San Franscisco about middle America "clinging" to their God and their guns will not be processed into the sausage Obama wants to sell. That was the mother of all gaffes for Obama and because of it, he can never be free of the sneaking suspicion (for some) or dead certainty (for most) that he is nothing but another liberal, Ivy League elitist who "doesn’t get it" or, frankly, get them. That, combined with the refreshing normalcy of Sarah Palin will do him in--indeed, it is doing him in. And this is causing him to lose his cool and to try, desperately, to look normal. We don’t have to do much but watch these flubs, note the flubs and call them fairly. You’re right. Making too much out of them is sophomoric and, worse, it may be counter-productive. It looks like piling on and we should show a little magnanimity with approaching victory. We should refrain from allowing ourselves to look like salivating wolves if we want his mistakes to have their full and devastating impact.
But remember Obama's lipstick comment was immediately followed by a snark about wrapping a stinking fish in a newspaper. This mocking of Sarah the pig and McCain the rotten fish is pretty obvious and was certainly appreciated by Obama's audience. An artful and not an indignant response is appropriate. But a firm response, baiting the media to recall BOTH parts of the insult, is essential politics.
One thing which is notable, partly because it's not being noted much so far, is the extent to which Plain is overshadowing McCain - the man supposedly at the top of the ticket.
The casual observer could be forgiven for thinking from the coverage that the race is Palin vs Obama, with McCain and Biden in the VP slots. I've never seen anything like it before.
Ken, I did note that fish line and I have heard your interpretation extrapolated and yet, I still find it improbable that he meant to make a direct slam against either of their persons. It seemed pretty clear from the statement that he was talking about their ideas. That his audience took it another way (as--when you hear the audio--it is clear that they did) is yet another telling matter. I thought Obama sounded confused by their reaction--as if he didn't even know what all the hooting was about. (Another indication that he is not comfortable when speaking in the cadence of the people.) At some point it must have dawned on him that whether he meant it or not, it sounded like a personal attack on Palin for her sex and McCain for his age. And yet, instead of being gracious and conceding the point and retracting the line, he doubled down like a snotty little twerp in high school debate bent on making his too fine point. Technically, he may be correct. But the damage is now done and he did nothing to mitigate it. There's nothing we can do to add to his spectacle in this. Just let him keep digging in.
I say we need to get in touch with our inner "wolf" and go after him.
Magnanimity is misplaced in the case at bar.
We're talking about a campaign, a party, a media, who just tried to rip and tear apart a 17 year old girl, who also just happens to be preggers!
Let's keep in our mind's eye just how radical they are, and let's bear in mind too how the media has tried to ram him down our throat, WITHOUT any vetting.
No sympathy, no quarter.
No sympathy, Dan. Just strategy. If your opponent is bent on hanging himself, don't stand in front of the rope and don't risk taking the blame for handing it to him.
Let us lay aside the pointed inflammatory power of the word "lipstick" in this story.... Let us instead consider the word "pig."
Sure, we all conjure up notions of the popular farm animal and the the oft cited political notions of dressing up that ugly beast for crowd-pleasing political quip. But... I am amazed that no one has cited the post-1968 Chicago-politik meaning of this word "pig."
To wit, uh, anybody remember the massive trial of the infamous Chicago Eight, featuring Abbie "Die pig!" Hoffman?
I thot not.
Certainly the SIXTIES are dead, save in the immature minds of Obama, and his little band of leftist Billy "Die pig!" Ayers et al. Qualified to be President of the United States?
Are you kidding me?
If I remember correctly, in his famous speech on race at Philadelphia Obama said that he cringed when his grandmother made remarks about her fears of young black men. He made such fears, which are understandable for her generation, equivalent to the worst of racism exhibited in this country. Was it a gaffe or a flub when he called his grandmother's concerns the same as a Klansman's racism?
"Flub" or "gaffe" - I think it's splitting semantic hairs that are already frizzed. It doesn't matter what you call the mental thoughts that happen to slip out in a speech. No matter how much backpedaling Obama does now, whether he meant the quips in their current interpretation or not, it is "out there". Gads...Palin has the audacity to challenge their messiah with her divine message and all without any help from publicists or pundits or promoters. Boy, that HAS to hurt.
I think JENNIFER cut to the chase.
The lipstick is been a great stratagem that has made Obama get a new degree in arrogance and unpolitness,talking about pigs.
It's American interest to protect Mrs.Palin good mind and peaceful vision of love