Palin's Empty Rhetoric

As a young adult, it is hard for me to look at Sarah Palin’s speech as anything but a ploy to get McCain and herself elected. Politics are all the same, they appeal to the audience they are talking to, and the candidates only care to become elected and stay elected. While criticism on Palin’s speech ranged from amazing to horrible, I would have to fall somewhere in the middle ground. After all, the woman knows how to make a joke which, although they were somewhat offensive and pertained little to McCain and his goals as president, it gets the audiences excited and involved. Other than that, I felt that Palin overstepped her bounds as Vice President and focused too much on insulting Obama, opposed to actually promoting McCain and what his plans are if he were to become President.

I can understand how Palin was able to get so many favorable remarks about her speech because she did two good things: she used McCain’s past to pull on the heart strings of American and, insulted Obama, something that every Republican would enjoy hearing.
Unfortunately, Palin did not perform to my expectations. She committed a very big mistake. Throughout Palin’s speech, she almost completely avoided any actual substance and had little if any content pertaining to the party platform. Starting in the beginning, Palin talked about her family, which was probably a good idea since she is unknown to many, but that took up time that could have been used to educate the voters on her experience as governor. Sure, she mentioned that she got rid of the “luxury jet” and that Alaska’s “state budget is under control”, but that information is vague. It does not give me specifics. It does not tell me what kind of experience she has, it just tells me that yes, she does have those Republican ideals.

Actually, the only specifics that Palin mentioned during her speech was, the natural pipeline being built in Alaska that would help “lead American to energy independence”. When she mentioned the pipeline, I was given the impression that Palin is interested in helping America become more energy efficient and that she is willing to use our own reserves to do so. Now, that is something that I would like to know about a vice presidential candidate I know nothing about. I would like to know what her priorities are. However, the times she spend discussing this topic was not nearly as long as I would have liked.

Certainly McCain’s platform has been mentioned throughout the primaries and was touched upon during many national convention speeches, but many Americans, or at least me, want to know what it is that the candidates are interested in achieving. I want to know how McCain feels about the economy, the war on Iraq, our foreign policy and trade agreement, and I want to know what he plans on doing when faced with these issues as president and what Palin thinks she can contribute to these issues. Any parties national convention is the time to solidify these issues and that is something that I think that Palin was unsuccessful in doing.

However, Palin focused a lot on the character of McCain and not his platform. Of course it is good to know that McCain is a man of moral character, a man who has fought for his country and is willing to fight for us, but it does not let me know if he is a highly educated man. Palin’s job is to create zeal of McCain which would be better achieved if, at least a main concern of his that sparks interest in constituents, was covered in more detail than that of Obama’s uncalled for remarks.

Palin brought up the idea of Obama’s remarks and his “flaws” much too often. I just do not understand why Obama should be given so much media coverage, good or bad, at the REPUBLICAN national convention. In all seriousness, any and all focus should be aimed at McCain, and Democrat bashing is doing quite the opposite. I do not care that Obama “has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform”, I want to know what McCain has or has not done. I already know he was a P.O.W and fought for his country but I want to know his legislative accomplishments and his aspirations. If McCain has “inspired with his deeds”, tell me what they are.

Palin was put in the perfect position to raise McCain even higher but, she fell short. Although the polls may say differently, Palin was unable to give McCain the boost he deserved by actually highlighting his accomplishment in office, an idea that now seems foreign to politicians running for office. I know Americans are more for a candidate’s looks and his or her family values but Palin, like most candidates before her has lost sight of what is truly important in a candidate; what they stand for in foreign policy and legislation. The republican national convention should be used to educate the masses on McCain’s legislative history because in all honesty, that is some of the only times people will listen. The national conventions of each party always create the most viewers, so Palin should have used that opportunity to get more facts out about herself as well as McCain, not just empty rhetoric.




OBAMA BASHING, PALIN'S SPECIALTY

The most effective and important part of Palin’s speech was the bashing of Obama. Yes, as a Vice President, that is Palin’s job. She is the one who puts the opposition down and she is the one who is supposed to instill excitement and curiosity in the presidential nominee. Opponent bashing, while obviously not the ‘cleanest’ way to go about promoting a candidate, is never the less, effective. Palin, unlike the Obama campaign, which has chosen on most occasions to take the ‘high road’, used her insults for the good of the party. Of course when you put down an opponent it cannot be nice, but the way in which Palin deliberately turns Obama’s good qualities into faulty ones is, proof by the jump in the polls after her speech, successful.

Whether it’s right or wrong is not the issue, the main point in any election is to win. The goal is to persuade the public that your party and your candidate are the best candidates for the job. If that means “dirty politics” I say more power to Palin. She has used her information about Obama and spun it in a way that is beneficial to McCain and the conservative party. After all, the same could be said about Obama and they way he campaigns. Palin even addressed the fact that when Obama goes to different cities and different states, he addresses his constituents differently based on location. It’s the same way with Palin. Obviously at a Republican National Convention, one would hope that the speakers are attempting to instill excitement in voters. And most likely, if you are attending the Republican National Convention you are interested in the Republican Party, most likely a Republican and yes, would like more than anything to show your support for your Republican candidate by putting down the opposing, Democratic candidate. Its simple, Republicans at the national convention want to hear how much better republicans are over the democrats. And to think that Democrats if given the chance wouldn’t boo for McCain, is just plain ludicrous. Palin simply appeased her audience, just like Senator Obama has done numerous times.

The bashing of Obama, which did play a prominent role in her speech, also served to show America what is was that Palin actually believed in. Showing how one’s opponent ideals are wrong is an excellent way to express ones views while also creating excitement for them. Sure, dirty politics is definitely an aspect that turns constituents away from the polls, but in the case of Palin, not only is it her duty as a Vice President at the Republican National Convention to bash on the opposing party, but it is also her duty to create excitement for McCain.

Also, Palin’s use of rhetoric serves to show how much more exciting McCain is as the presidential nominee, and how much more genuine and great he is as an individual. She did not draw him as a great man on the basis of party lines or on the ideas that he believes in, Palin used a pathos argument so show who McCain truly is, an American soldier. Palin told the story of McCain’s youth as a POW and all of the hardships that he faced and even mentioned and individual in the crowd to further intensify the story and turn it into reality. In this situation, it was smart of Palin to use the pathos rhetoric and appeal to the emotions of her viewers. After all, I do not know many American people, especially Republicans, who would disrespect an American solider, who put their life on the line for their country. So, that is how Palin was able to reach out beyond the Republican scope and out to moderates and possibly even democrats to express what a truly amazing individual McCain is.

It becomes easier to see McCain more along the lines of an American, instead of just Republican. A man who has “actually fought for you” and is now attempting to fight for the American people again is an extremely appealing, pleasant, and reassuring idea. I’m sure that Palin, as well as all the other candidates and spectators of this speech know, it’s hard not to believe a man who has put his life on the line for individuals like me and you, and a man who sacrificed so much for his country, would have alternative motives for his fellow citizens. However, Palin promotes the idea of a well rounded individual who isn’t out to make a name for himself. Palin obviously wanted that point to get across and, whether it was by attacking Obama’s motives I think can also be disputed, but it’s clear that by the slogan that he is campaigning and Palin’s speech that McCain puts country first.