Watching Palin's speech yesterday made me cringe and I had to switch of the tv. However, what made me really sad is that when I talk to my neighbors (southwest Ohio), many of them think she did a great job. They believe she spoke well, she's a mom like them, was on the PTA, she's doing it all and they like the idea of a woman - any woman - being in the white house. Since my neighbors are the typical suburban moms with limited exposure to the rest of the country, much less the rest of the world, Palin appeals to them. They do NOT see the lack of experience, the lies, the mockery, the vitriolic baseless atacks of Obama.
David Brooks wrote a column a few years ago (link below) about such places and how the democrats need to reach voters in such places.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
I volunteered for Kerry in 2004 and while Kerry did better than expected in the city, he didn't do as well in the suburbs and I don't see that this has changed. How do you reach people who have everything they need? Who are scared/fearful of people different from them, whether it be the color of their skin, their beliefs, how they raise their kids...? How do you reach people brought up to be Republican? I have a teacher friend, pretty middle class who always votes Republicans and inspite of all my discussions with her (economy, world geopolitics), she doesn't get it. This is someone who on many other issues can be kind of progressive, she petitioned for public breast feeding laws in Ohio, supports teachers unions etc? Unless, the DNC can figure out how to reach this segment of the population, it will always be too close an election, prone to tampering. Obama needs to win decisively.
I didn't grow up in this country but have lived here most of my adult life and it's difficult to understand why people here are so anti-education. One of the conclusions I have arrived at to explain the sheer idiocy of electing Bush&Co is the lack of knowledge/education of the citizenry. Can people think analytically? Are they taught how to reason and look at the facts? If Obama is elected, he should pass legislation to educate all Americans in civics classes and what government does. It's not a popularity contest or a beauty pageant. Reducing the election to the lowest common denominator (she's just like us) cheapens the office of VP and the serious nature of such positions. I want someone at the top to be better than I am, to be more educated than I am. It's dishearteneing to see so many here who think all it takes is good oratory and presentation. It all seems like a great facade.
Although among the swing states, Ohio is pretty close, I feel rather hopeless in Ohio.