The ascendance of personality politics is complete, the Right finally getting their 2010 star. It’s been on parade since Barack Obama was elected, with the midterm grudge match sure to be a blockbuster.
From a scathing Vanity Fair article on Palin as she readies tomorrow to speak in Iowa:
Palin’s most unconventional hire is a novice media consultant, Rebecca Mansour, a 36-year-old Los Angeles resident who has been identified in news stories as a screenwriter. Mansour has said that she volunteered for Obama early in the 2008 campaign and then became disillusioned. Not long after the election, with Joseph Russo, a then 23-year-old college student from New Jersey, who would also go to work for Palin, she co-founded the most popular pro-Palin blog, Conservatives4Palin, known informally as C4P (and not to be confused with the “adult swingers” Web site of that name). C4P functions as a hybrid news service, discussion board, and field headquarters for a virtual army of Palin supporters, who pride themselves on brute devotion. “Who We Are and What We Stand For,” a post written by Mansour, declares, “We’re ordinary barbarians here. No one controls us. We’re a horde.” A prominent C4P contributor, Nicole Coulter, told CBS.com this summer, “We would literally walk across hot broken glass for this woman… She’s our family, and you protect your family; it’s like the mafia.”
The same exists on the Left where Pres. Obama is concerned.
Meanwhile, this country is in a hell of a mess, with Right and Left defending their Mr. or Mrs. America, while voters turn their noses up at both the big two parties. Any wonder why?
Politics is of the moment, with the people most committed, able and willing to exploit the mood of the country most capable of coercing events in their direction, no matter whether their answers will be right or productive for the people or the country.
Sarah Palin has harnessed her moment so far. She’s judged the moment right, connected emotionally and is driving her message hard, even through blundered syntax.
Barack Obama did not; his moment passing as his presidency weakens by the month. The only hope being that after the 2010 election people will see the Right as the latest political idiots unable to deliver, while Republicans continue to flail on what exactly they’ll do differently, trying not to look, or nominate, crazy, which is death in presidential election years.
But for now, it’s the year of the Reagan axiom: Are you better off today than you were in 2008? The answer is determinative of the Democrats’ fate. Considering there’s been political malpractice on the Democratic side we can only wait and see just how bad it will be, remembering that Americans dislike Democrats, but they think Republicans are even worse. However, it is midterms, so the party in power is the one that will get pummeled.
[...] Republican voters are raring to vote, their energy fueled by anti-Obama passion and concern over debt, spending, taxes, health care, and the size of government. Democrats are much less enthusiastic by almost every measure, and the Democratic base’s turnout will lag. Plus, Democrats have won over 50 House seats in 2006 and 2008, many of them in Republican territory, so their exposure to any sort of GOP wave is high. – The Crystal Ball’s Labor Day Predictions
With that as a foundation, the trouble Democrats are facing today begins with Barack Obama’s naivte that “the ideological battles that we fought during the ’90s that were really extensions of battles we fought since the ’60s” aren’t still in play in American politics.
How quickly people forget. But rarely has a politician, his party and supporters survived a Mirror, Mirror on the Wall infatuation without looking behind them. It’s just that Mr. Obama didn’t think cementing his win and what the people rejected and why was as important as riding his popularity wave.
This rising tide of discontent begun during Bush was missed by Barack Obama and a Democratic Party that believed their press releases and that the humongous crowds would stay enthralled amidst policies that weren’t democratic and didn’t address the full breadth of the problems we faced post Bush-Cheney. Obama letting the health care industry inside the room and making deals over smart policy, while demanding a mandate in a system that is fixed towards corporations; selling out core constituencies on the bet they’ll always be there; Wall Street meddling that not only pissed off business, but didn’t fix the system and render justice all the way up; environmental indifference on Obama’s watch, amidst colossal incompetence; all in an era when Barack Obama, who ran against the horrific leadership of Bush-Cheney, decided to let lies, torture, intelligence treachery and domestic deceit be bygones, while Speaker Pelosi looked the other way at what the Republican predecessor did in the name of “restoring honor and dignity to the White House,” so that in 20 months, why Obama and Democrats were put in power has gone down the memory hole.
The Republican Tea Party rise required a weak ideological opponent perfectly represented in Barack Obama. A political novice who would allow the Right’s incendiary language to blanket the national landscape without a firm response, because he’s above getting down into it. Obama preferring snide quips in campaign stump speeches to his choir, select media interviews, and OFA emails to take the place of a day in, day out campaign that makes the case that Democratic policies and principles are not only better for the country and the world than what the Right offers, but are worth fighting for every day, no matter how inconvenient it may be to fight icky ideological battles.
Like Palin’s fans who “would literally walk across hot broken glass for this woman… She’s our family, and you protect your family; it’s like the mafia,” Pres. Obama has his legions of Obamaphiles readying to tread the glass path for him too.
Unfortunately, Obama is just so 2008, with Sarah Palin the hot ticket today. That it also feels like year 6 of his presidency, but it’s not even year 2 yet, is another reality the White House has not yet faced.
Two things:
1. At this moment politics is just another ‘reality show’ nothing more.
2. From Vanity Fairy:
‘This spring and summer I traveled to Alaska and followed Palin’s road show through four midwestern states, speaking with whomever I could induce to talk under whatever conditions of anonymity they imposed—political strategists, longtime Palin friends and political associates, hotel staff, shopkeepers and hairstylists, and high-school friends of the Palin children. There’s a long and detailed version of what they had to say, but there’s also a short and simple one: anywhere you peel back the skin of Sarah Palin’s life, a sad and moldering strangeness lies beneath.
This is reporting? Gossip sounds more like it.
Hey guyski.
As for the Vanity Fair article, it is very dishy, even juicy.
I will say this, however. People will simply not go on the record for any reason when it comes to big politicians. I cannot tell you the level of difficulty in getting people on the record.
The rest of the article I’ll leave others to judge.
I think you’ve hit on something re: “reality show.” Good point.
Yep, just another ‘reality show’ and I think Palin understands this more than Obama.
guyski… your right…I think she gets it and enjoys playing her role.
Oh yeah she get its. Her response (assumed) to Vanity Fair:
“Those who are impotent and limp and gutless and they go on their anonymous — sources that are anonymous — and impotent, limp and gutless reporters take anonymous sources and cite them as being factual references,” Palin said
IMPOTENT, LIMP and GUTLESS, that should get people talking.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0910/41715.html
Taylor, a number of respectable liberal journalists/bloggers who would never normally defend Sarah Palin have come out and called the Vanity fair article a “hit piece”. I was hoping you would be one of them.
Taylor, your post reflects how my mother has become a former Republican all in the span of six months. She no longer trust Republicans to do the right thing and hates Democrats. She plans to vote for anyone other than Republican or Dem in next election.
Independent voters or growing.
Woo Hoo! One more convert!
A media consultant, huh? I knew something was different! Yesterday I followed a link on The Page to a new entry on Palin’s Facebook page. I was surprised to see an entry written in complete sentences! I knew Palin couldn’t have done it!
LOL
Mbolak, you sound like you might have been one of those anonymous sources for the Vanity Fair article. Grow up.
The Palin obsession on the left is really embarrassing.
Taylor, your site is about the only left leaning place on the entire internets that can talk about her without devolving into name calling and sophomoric misogynistic joke telling.
The Vanity Fair article is a joke. I don’t believe 3/4 the things in it. What the article tells me is that she continues to get under the skin of the “elites” and that I love.
I was a life long Democrat until Obama came along. Now I’m hoping for the utter destruction of him and his party, so we might ever have a chance at some politics that works for the average person. Dems and Reps are way too connected to our corporate masters.
My strategy from now until I can find someone to actually vote for is to vote against all incumbents. Probably still a quixotic endeavor, but what else have we got? Please don’t say third party, because Libertarians and Greens are both nuts.
“My strategy from now until I can find someone to actually vote for is to vote against all incumbents. Probably still a quixotic endeavor, but what else have we got? Please don’t say third party, because Libertarians and Greens are both nuts.”-Mawm
Lol…you sound like my mother…she refuse to vote for either party any longer. I am meeting more and more people like you in America now days. I stopped being a Democrat way before Obama came along. When I learned Democrats were taking women voters for granted I walked away from the party. Now, I am just an Independent voters enjoying the destruction of both parties. Perhaps, if both big major parties crumb a new political ones will finally have a chance.
You are in good company. These liberal writers don’t buy the Vanity Fair piece either. If they don’t buy it, who will??
Ben Smith, Dave Weigel, race-baiter Charles Blow, Shakesville, Kirsten Powers, John Dickerson, Amanda Coyne, and Monika Bauerlein
sorry, Marie…meant to post it under Mawm’s comment
Wow…Mawn, thank you for being open to what your gut is telling you. That the article is a pack of lies and nothing but a hit job on Palin by the obsessed and frightened left.
Taylor, Your post was excellent…enjoyed the last one too. Obama is so 08′ and I can guarantee you there won’t be a 12′ unless he pulls a rabbit out of his hat soooon.
Personality politics is what sells in this country sadly, if your boring you will not get nowhere, no matter how many good ideas you have. American politics today is that of celebrity !! I disagree with both President Obama and former Gov. Sarah Palin when it comes some issues, but I don’t like when either side gets carried away and start slandering them with either racist slurs or sexist slurs. They both hold influence in their parties and we have seen that from President Obama in 2008 to Sarah Palin in 2010. I would have never thought in a million years that Obama would defeat Hillary Clinton in the democratic primary. And I never would believe that Sarah Palin helped bring down another Murkouski, Lisa Murkouski who served her state for what, 30 years. Whether people like them or no, were stuck with them, both made history, and one is president and the other is a political rockstar. Who, knows what history will show for these two, but for now one is the most powerful person on earth, and the other one of the most recognized women in the world. For right now, not that bad being either of these people.
I agree…for some reason these two (Obama and Palin) are not going anywhere from the public eye. Even if Obama loses his bid in 2012 for reelection he’ll be remember by the MOST LIKELY EVER GROWING MINORITY CLASS to be their idol. Just as Sarah Palin whether she runs are not in 2012 will forever be a ROCK STAR TO THE RIGHT WING…were stuck with both them for a long time.
That rabbit has to be after the mid-terms, he better get to work finding jobs….real jobs for people and I would suggest he put Hillary as VP, then and only then can he expect to win in 2012′. If he lets the rethugs run his administration like he’s already done…he’s toast. I really, really would like for him to pull his head out of the sand and win my vote…but I not holding my breath.
I don’t see what he will be able to get done when the Rethugs take over? I am wondering if he will actually use the veto pen?
I saw the guy who wrote the hit piece on Palin this morning on MJ. He tried to say he started out sympathetic to her but his mind was changed by what he learned. Hard for me to believe that Vanity Fair would send a sympathetic journalist to cover Palin.
I am a years long subscriber and have always enjoyed the magazine (more when Tina Brown was the publisher) but I know where they are coming from. I got so mad at Tod Purdom’s hit piece on WJC that I stopped my subscription in a huff. I reupted this year. I like their long pieces on a wide variety of people.It is my version of People which I don’t read.
Some follow-up on that Vanity Fairy piece.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0910/Saying_anything_about_Palin_contd.html?showall
Here for you Hillary lovers/haters
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yt1puizrv4A&feature=player_embedded
I can not stand hit pieces, and I believe this is what the Vanity piece is. Hillary got alot of this crap in the press magazines like Vanity. When are the guys going to be called out for the way the act or the way they look or how much they spend on clothes. The guys always seem to get away with everything. While the women are called out on stupid things and basicly being called a bitch !! I am so sick of it !!
Don’t look at Politico then because they are making a big deal out of Brewer losing her train of thought in the debate…Obama can’t even put two sentences together with a freaking teleprompter…yet they are making fun of Brewer. Your right I’m sick of it too, its all a bunch of men, which I think most a gay. I don’t have a thing against gays, but they seem to be the ones who say the nastiest things and are ganging up on the ladies, for the exception of Hillbuzz dudes…they are nice.
If they want to run off the rest of Hillary supporters, I suggest they keep on the misogny…that will for sure turn us to the rethugs.
dsue – I just have to respectfully disagree with your comment that its the gays that say the nastiest things and are gaining up on the ladies. A majority of the gay community supported Hillary Clinton during the primaries. Gay men respect strong women and actually look up to them. It was the womens movement that helped pave the way for the LGBT community gain rights as well as the civil and human rights movement of course. But I am so glad you agree about the misogny thing, I don’t think it will ever go away. Yeah, I might disagree with Gov. Brewer on somethings, but were all human and make mistakes.
Oh please, the only one that does a hatchet job on themselves is the former HALF governor of Alaska. If she would shut her damn mouth, the Left would shut theirs. WE ARE GONNA CALL HER ON HER BULLSHIT AS WE MUST!!!
Where was this dammned liberal media when MILLIONS of us took to America’s streets to protest the illegal invasion of Iraq??? Where? I will tell you where. They were busy covering the 50 (if that many) who would show up IN SUPPORT of that GD war. That is where.
Tea parties couldn’t come CLOSE to the number there was protesting Iraq. But again, that LIBERAL media ignored us and made Sarah Palin and Dick Armey’s tea party freak show out to be effing darlings. To that, she ain’t and they ain’t. She is not even popular, but you wouldn’t know it reading this site or any other Progressive site.
I guess it’s okay for her to be SATAN because she’s a woman. If you are a guy and you criticize her, you are just being a misogynist. That’s the drift I get. She makes Dick Cheney seem as if he’s a sissy. She deserves nothing but America’s wrath just like Obama, IMHO!
I remember the Vanity Fair piece on Bill Clinton. I have no idea if true, but it sounded like him. He was a serial woman abuser, but I remember with the Left’s WOMEN it was “none of our business.” Shame on you.
Am I pissed that Obama’s a fraud? Your damn tootin’. But I’m even more pissed at Hillary Clinton voters thinking she’d be any different. You were going to vote FOR the centrist Clintons, you have no reason to bitch now that Obama is doing exactly like Bill Clinton did during his presidency. Bubba made it fashionable to sell the Left out. Bubba was making deals with Newt Gingrich behind closed doors, for God’s sake.
So Taylor and all you Hillary voters, again, just remember, what Hillary would have delivered is exactly what Obama is delivering. WHY WOULD YOU EVER WANT THAT OR VOTE FOR IT??? The people that have a right to be angry are those like me, that wanted NO PART of Bubba Clinton’s DLC centrist/pragmatic/Republican-Lite BS. It is why Obama beat her. We KNEW she was owned by the corporations, we had NO idea Obama would sell out as soon as he got the tiara, to which, he did. Had I known, I would have voted for NEITHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This charade of what are we gonna do now is just that. It is over. The Clintons and Obamas have proven there is NO Democratic party and there are NO liberals in DC. The problem is the Democratic National Committee is NOT liberal, it is Republican thanks to the so-called intelligent ones, above. The DNC needs to be liberal and the RNC needs to be conservative. Two clear choices, but we have too many conservatives/RWers in the DNC screwing it up. No thanks!
I can’t stand Beck, so this is in no way an endorsement of his ridiculous honor rally, but you can’t get away with revisionist history. I was at both the march on DC pre-invasion and the post-invasion one in NYC. Both marches seemed anemic to me, and there certainly weren’t as many people at the DC march as Beck managed to get to show up for his show.
Also, pre-invasion I felt like I was in the twilight zone, because all the Democrats I knew were for the war. When things started to go wrong there is when you started to see Dems regretting their support, and now you can’t find a Democrat who supported the war.
So don’t pretend you were at either of those protests, because you would know how disappointing it was to see how few people wanted to stop a war enough to get off their asses and show up.
Ron99, Call me when you find the perfect candidate…I’ll vote for them. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the globalist run this country which is why we have NO choice. Gee, I wish you folks could figure it out. Bubba was better than any Potus we’ve had in years, so I’ll take the good with the bad. Obama is all bad, I wish someone would just name one good thing he’s done…
A serial womanizer, like JFK wasn’t?? Like Uncle Teddy wasn’t??? Like Bush I isn’t?? What about the rest of the clan in D.C., they are either abusing women or men which ever is their taste demands.
You seem to hate everyone, so see if you can get Dennis Kucinach to run/win…I’d vote for him.
I even voted for the supreme flake John (ironJaw) Kerry, talking about weak, Hillary has more testicles than he does.
Yeah I voted for him too, and of course his vice presidental pick John Edwards, People want to talk about a bad VP pick !!
There is a difference between womanizer and abuser.
I’m pretty sure that most of Bill’s women were willing.
LadeLady,
I believe they were, but I have my doubts about how accurate his mianderings really were. There is alot of lying going on on both sides. If Bill C. was busying geting everyone in the sack, how in the world could he have done such a good job running Arkansas and the U.S.
Well they do say he can do about 3 things at the same time…LOL! Of coarse the women would of had to agree to allow him to talk on the phone and play cards at the same time. LOL! Its all a bunch of lies…Bill C. loves Hillary. They have an open marriage which was extremely popular in our day. They both had careers and busy with those things…anyways what goes on in the bedrooms in this country should stay in the bedroom. Its none of our business!
One more thing…this Massa guy….all this stuff happens in the showers in Congress??? Nothing in Congress is getting done…everything is going on in the showers! YUK!
I really hate that my tax money goes for showers in the House of Representatives…can’t they take a shower at home like most folks…I mean REALLY!