Sarah Palin continues to clearly show her 'colors' or lack thereof as she continues her quest for celebrity and national poli/social prominence.
The GOP, political conservatives, and far right libertarians has come a long way since its 1976 national opposition to the ERA, Equal Rights Amendment. Palin became the campaign 'lead' during the late stages of the 2008 campaign. While the politically desperate strategy to place Palin on the ticket failed by not attracting large numbers of disgruntled Hillary supporters, the fact that she was on the ticket could have injected new life into the GOP. Palin continues to fail in her political quest based on her obvious deep-rooted biases and equally biased or incompetent advisors.
There is much to be said about 'playing' to one's base. The strategy is common to all political campaigns and political initiatives but the strategy can lead to bad political decisions that exposes the candidate to undesired scrutiny (from the opposition). The strategy to play to the base is a good one if the candidate is merely seeking financial donations. Once the candidate moves to actual 'politicking', a poorly throughout strategy often backfires.
I ask did playing to the base result in the following video advertisement?
View the PAC advertisement and look really closely to see if you notice anyone in the commercial other than white females (or white men).
Mama Grizzlies
What follows is telling data that reflects very negatively on Palin's political acumen in development of and running the advertisement. But of course, I assume that Palin has serious political ambitions and that Palin is not simply interested in contributions to her growing financial hoppers.
take a look
Voter base
Registered Democrats, Republicans and Independents as of 2004.[42]
Business community. The GOP is usually seen as the traditionally pro-business party and it garners major support from a wide variety of industries from the financial sector to small businesses. Republicans are about 50 percent more likely to be self-employed, and are more likely to work in the area of management.[43]
Gender. Since 1980, a "gender gap" has seen slightly stronger support for the GOP among men than among women. In the 2006 House races, 43% of women voted for GOP, while 47% of men did so.[44]
Race. While historically the party had been supporters of rights for blacks since the 1860s, it lost its leadership position; the GOP has been winning under 15% of the black vote in recent national elections (1980 to 2008). The party has recently nominated African American candidates for senator or governor in Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland, though none were successful and as of 2010 no black member of Congress or governor is a Republican. The Republican Party abolished slavery under Abraham Lincoln, defeated the Slave Power, and gave blacks the vote during Reconstruction in the late 1860s. Until the New Deal of the 1930s, blacks supported the GOP by large margins.[45] Most black voters switched to the Democratic Party in the 1930s when the New Deal offered them employment opportunities, and major figures, such as Eleanor Roosevelt, began to support civil rights. They became one of the core components of the New Deal Coalition. In the South, blacks were able to vote in large numbers after 1965, when a bipartisan coalition passed the Voting Rights Act, and ever since have formed a significant portion (20-50%) of the Democratic vote in that region.[46]
In recent decades, the party has been moderately successful in gaining support from Hispanic and Asian American voters. George W. Bush, who campaigned energetically for Hispanic votes, received 35% of their vote in 2000 and 44% in 2004.[47] The party's strong anti-communist stance has made it popular among some minority groups from current and former Communist states, in particular Cuban Americans, Korean Americans, Chinese Americans, and Vietnamese Americans. In the 2006 House races, the GOP won 51% of white votes, 37% of Asian votes, and 30% of Hispanic votes, while winning only 10% of African American votes.[44] The election of Bobby Jindal as Governor of Louisiana has been hailed as pathbreaking.[48] He is the first elected minority governor in Louisiana and the first governor of Indian descent to lead a state.[49]
For decades, a greater percentage of white voters identified themselves as Democrats, rather than Republicans. However, since the mid-1990s whites have been more likely to self-identify as Republicans than Democrats.[50]
Palin is campaigning to the far right extremes of the GOP. She appears to run without affiliation to the RNC or Power Brokers in the GOP. In fact, I posit that she is attempting to work to the point of a GOP power broker; thus driving the party even further to the poli/social right.
A short venture into a GOP past that includes opposition to the ERA (1976) and its prospects of GOP support for women's rights and the party's eventual reversal of opposition (1980) is a history that should not go unnoticed by women voters. The fact that the nation is comprised of 51 per cent women with comparable numbers of women voters should have provided an impetus (consideration for a more diverse party) to the Palin branding team. Yet, the commercial was developed and is presented as you and I viewed the piece of work.
While I appreciate the activism among women voters for a potential national candidate based on gender or race, I wonder if others are taken aback by a GOP party leader's continued disdain for a more inclusive society?
I do not believe that we observed similar from the extremely adroit Obama campaign team.