Here's a bit of background on me, given in the interest of fairness. I am a mother of 3 with a super-full-time job (as a lawyer) that leaves me with scanty time for volunteerism. So I have not been phone-banking or knocking on doors. I try to make up for this failing by making significant financial contributions, and I have volunteered to contribute lawyering skills on and around Election Day. But I have not been out there pounding the pavement, etc.
I'm a Jewish professional living in Harlem. I don't often find myself in conversations with low-information voters, at least not conservatives or potential conservatives, about politics. There are a few Republicans in my family, and it is pointless to argue with them -- I'm not sure how our principles can be so completely at odds, but lack of information is not their problem (one branch of my family is rather hard-core Republican politicos -- I have an uncle who works at a thinktank and actually shows up once in awhile as a conservative commentator on NPR or in the Times).
But this morning I arrived at work genuinely depressed about Sarah Palin and wound up having a conversation with a low-information voter.
Frankly, I think Sarah Palin gave a powerful speech last night. Sure, powerful in a demagogue sort of way, but with some sort of visceral appeal. I think that as far as pure delivery goes she may well be on a par with Obama, whom I find absolutely brilliant. And that's scary, because someone with that ability can make audiences believe things that simply aren't true, things that simply don't make sense. (Between Obama's 2004 and when Edwards dropped out of the race, I pretty much avoided Obama's oratory because I knew I was a sucker for it; I read it, but avoided listening and watching, to make sure I was evaluating with my brain and not my heart.) I ultimately concluded based on facts, and on written versions of his statements, that I was very comfortable with him and have become an enthusiastic supporter since Edwards dropped out.
Sarah Palin's speech last night was brilliantly delivered, but also evil. It dripped with hatred -- of cityfolk (I'm from Brooklyn, and my 3 kids are from Manhattan, where we all now live), educated people, Muslims, "community organizers" and, of course, Democrats. She advocated further dismembering of the Constitution (I am still positively reeling over her complaint that some people think people arrested on suspicions of terrorism deserve some semblance of due process).
It was also full of bald lies.
So I arrived at work this morning in a real funk and said so when a (non-lawyer) colleague asked me how I was. Here's what happened (as far as I can remember).
Me: I'm depressed about Sarah Palin's speech.
Her: Really? I thought it was a wonderful speech!
Me: It was a terrific speech. That's why I'm so depressed.
But then here's what happened....
Her: She has a lovely family.
Me: Yes, I guess she does. But what a terrible person.
Her: What makes you say that?
Me: Well, she was using her family in the worst way. It was unbelievable. She stood up there and told the world that she is a friend to special needs children and their families. Which sounds very appealing because of course, there she is with her special needs child. But the truth is, she has slashed special ed in Alaska by 62%.
Her (genuinely shocked): Really??? You've got to be kidding.
Me: Really.
(I walked off to put my stuff in my office, and another colleague of ours confirmed what I had said. She was still marveling at this deceit when I stepped out of my office. So since she was receptive, I decided I needed to tell her more.)
Me: OK, here's something less heartbreaking because it doesn't involve taking advantage of special needs kids, but just as deceptive. You know that Bridge to Nowhere? The one that she says she said "thanks but no thanks to"? The only thing she said "no thanks" to was actually building the bridge. She was actively involved in getting the money from Congress, almost $300M, and she kept it for other purposes -- just didn't build the bridge.
Her: Really? Are you serious? That's incredible.
Me: Yes. That's why she scares me. I've seen plenty of polticians whose basic principles I disagree with, but I've never seen anything quite like her. She stands there and just makes stuff up. And she does it with amazing skill and comes across as completely untroubled by what she is doing. So someone who believes what she is saying is being taken in by a huge lie. It blows my mind.
Anyway, the woman I was speaking with was seriously taken aback. I don't know how she will vote in November, but she is going to give Palin a much harder look and try to educate herself.
Here's the thing. I couldn't believe how easy it was -- I've always been daunted by the prospect of canvassing. But I guess there are also plenty of people out there who (unlike my conservative relatives) just don't have that many facts. I found it very weird to actually hear someone's mind changing and was a bit surprised that all it took was a few relevant facts.
Responsible journalism, of course, would make what I did unnecessary. But even if the press were doing its job fully, they might not reach someone like that. And ads may never reach someone. But a real conversation can do wonders.
Anyway, this was an eye-opener for me. In the time that remains until November, I will try to do some phone-banking (not much use in going to door-to-door in my neighborhood, we're pretty solidly Obama country). I think that for those who are at risk of casting a vote based on visceral appeal rather than facts, the chances of doing something they themselves would regret terribly just went way the heck up last night.