There’s a huge difference between the likability and the capability of a presidential candidate. Likability is a valid quality, but not a sufficient reason to put a candidate in the White House. When we allow likability to excuse an obvious lack of capability, then something is tragically wrong with the way we evaluate our politicians. This contributed to the regrettable presidency of George W. Bush. This is what many have so quickly forgotten in swooning over Sarah Palin.
Such likability, which Gov. Palin partially restored in the debate after her devastatingly inept interview with Katie Couric, should not allow us to gloss over these astonishing moments from last night:
- "I may not answer the questions that either the moderator or you want to hear."
In other words, if I don’t really understand the question or can’t summon a canned response, I reserve the right to ignore it completely. She did so repeatedly, which is the only reason she avoided blatant deer-in-the-headlights moments. Katie Couric, unlike the debate moderator, repeated and pressed her questions until Palin’s underlying ignorance was exposed.
- "There are real changes going on in our climate. And I don’t want to argue about the causes. What I want to argue about is, how are we going to get there to positively affect the impacts?"
I won’t lambast her position on the causes of climate change, about which she is demonstrably wrong. The point here is simple logic: How can you "affect the impacts" if you aren’t willing to consider the causes? This is not about differences of opinion. It’s about coherence and rational argument. Without this, there is no basis for constructive problem-solving.
- Biden: "The notion that somehow, because I’m a man, I don’t know what it’s like to raise two kids alone...I understand as well as the governor or anybody else, what it’s like for those people sitting around that kitchen table...They’re not looking for more of the same."
Palin: "People aren’t looking for more of the same. They are looking for change. And John McCain has been the consummate maverick in the Senate over all these years."
Sen. Biden became emotional when describing the loss of his first wife in an accident. Say what you will about politicians’ sincerity, but the sadness of this personal tragedy was clear. Gov. Palin, whose entire persona is built upon authenticity, did not even acknowledge this and immediately launched into another transparent talking point.
Is Sarah Palin heartless? Of course not. But the fact that she either was unable or did not see fit to acknowledge Biden’s emotion completely contradicts the image of the sympathetic, down-to-earth hockey mom she so assiduously cultivates.
This is the folly of identity politics, of favoring a candidate because one "relates" better to him or her. It’s not that being likable and relatable is unimportant. It’s that our perceptions of those qualities are unreliable and bear little relationship to the actual responsibilities of governance.
My plea isn’t for everyone to agree with me on particular issues. It is for everyone to look beyond our easily manipulated impressions of a candidate’s personality and towards the sober assessment of his or her competence.