When a prominent liberal like HuffPo acknowledges Palin's appeal, what's left of the Palin-haters begin to look dumber than usual:
I've been thinking about this paradox: the most important political ad of 2010 so far did not play on television, and came from someone not currently running for any office. It was Sarah Palin's latest web video, "Mama Grizzlies."
For those who haven't seen it yet, the video features footage of women of various ages taken at an assortment of Tea Party and Palin rallies, accompanied by audio clips from a recent Palin speech. Among the choice sound bytes:"It seems like it's kind of a mom awakening... women are rising up."
"I always think of the mama grizzly bears that rise up on their hind legs when somebody is coming to attack their cubs."
"You thought pit bulls were tough? Well, you don't wanna mess with the mama grizzlies!"It's classic Palin. And, as often is the case with Palin, the video doesn't feature a single word about policy -- as many of her critics have pointed out. But they are completely missing the point. Indeed, this video and the response to it are a perfect illustration of why we need to widen the scope of our political analysis.
We are awash in crises right now -- crises that require smart and creative policy fixes. So why is somebody who so rarely deals in policy fixes so popular? It's because Palin's message operates on a level deeper than policy statements about the economy or financial reform or health care or the war in Afghanistan.
To really understand her appeal, we need less policy analysis and more psychology. Specifically, we need to hear from that under-appreciated political pundit Carl Jung.
It's not Palin's positions people respond to -- it's her use of symbols. Mama grizzlies rearing up to protect their young? That's straight out of Jung's "collective unconscious" -- the term Jung used to describe the part of the unconscious mind that, unlike the personal unconscious, is shared by all human beings, made up of archetypes, or, in Jung's words, "universal images that have existed since the remotest times." Unlike personal experiences, these archetypes are inherited, not acquired. They are "inborn forms... of perception and apprehension," the "deposits of the constantly repeated experiences of humanity."
Of course there is the chance that Arianna is just trying to set us up.
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The issue is not whether or not Palin has political prowess or can be a factor in the political arena. Obviously, she does and will continue to have some sort of following and political sway. However, she is even less qualified than the current President when he took office. Her experience in politics consists of being the mayor of Wasilla (a town of around 10K) and a partial term as Governor of a state which is an afterthought.
ReplyDeleteShe has no legitimate shot at the Presidency, as it stands now, and anyone who is under the impression that she would be a good representative of the conservative minded electorate needs to familiarize themselves with politics. I am not saying she is a bad person or has bad ideas, she is just extremely unqualified. I think she should set her sights on making big accomplishments either in the private sector or get back into politics on some official scale.
As it stands now, she her most notable action while in office was to quit on all her constituents in the middle of a term.