A Bible Lesson for Sarah Palin: King David and the Coat of Mail

Along with the rest of America, I turned on my TV to get a first glimpse of Sarah Palin in action during the GOP convention. I had been aware of Palin before John McCain selected her, but only vaguely, and this would be my first chance to see her in action.

The day before her debut, I watched as she made the customary rounds that all speakers do, walking around the podium, checking out the TelePrompter and surveying the hall. She looked nervous. If looks could speak, she was saying, "Oh dear, what in the world have I gotten myself into? I am way out of my league."

But what I saw the next night was not Quayle in New Orleans, but a tough, powerful, political figure, cool and confident, tossing off jokes and mocking her opponents. The fact that, nationally speaking, she was a political neophyte and yet was speaking so forcefully and powerfully on a national stage brought to mind Ronald Reagan and his powerful debut that has come to be known simply as "The Speech."

But then something happened to Sarah Palin. Handlers began to take her into back rooms and tell her how little she knew and how she'd have to quickly learn the names of presidents of small countries and bills in the Senate and how many missiles were in various nuclear arsenals around the world. And that process seemed to kill her confidence, shut down her natural political instincts and kill what made Palin such an interesting political animal.

I've been thinking the same thing. Gov. Palin needs to relax, answer the questions from her heart, trust her instincts and not rely on the volumes of information and tutoring that has been crammed into her head the last several weeks. If she can use something that she has been told recently to directly answer the question, then she should just use it naturally and in her own words. If she does this, she can easily bury Biden and win the respect of those who truly have not made up their minds. There will always be those who have already made up their minds regardless of what she says, and I have another Bible lesson for them. "Allow the dead to bury their own dead..." (Luke 9:60a)

Biden has a track record of being as dumb as a rock.
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Biden is the final proof of the incredible level of media bias in favor of the left. Dan Quayle with a 104 degree fever would have been smarter than Biden on his best day ever. If Quayle had been a Democrat we would be hearing of his genius for twenty years after he retired.

Good point.
Another comparison I'd make is to an episode of the old Nickelodeon show ‘Hey Arnold.’ In the episode, Arnold's friend Mr. Green, a humble neighborhood butcher, decides to run for city council because the current councilman for their district is incompetent and unconcerned with the needs of the regular people in the district. At the debate, Mr. Green initially tries to impress people by talking like a politician, using a lot of big intelligent- sounding words, but doing so makes him really nervous, and makes the people watching the debate have no clue what he's trying to say. Then, during an intermission period, Arnold tells Mr. Green that he should stop acting like a phony politician, and start being himself, and framing the issues in ways that he and the audience can understand. So, when the debate resumes, Mr. Green draws upon his experience as a butcher to describe the problems with the district (i.e. “The road on South Street is kind of like a pork loin, and that big pothole in it that the current councilman won't have repaired is like having a big rotten spot in the pork loin! Would you want to eat that?”). Speaking about the issues using terms Green is familiar with gives him a big boost of confidence, and helps the audience realize what good ideas he has, so he wins the debate and the election by a landslide.
Palin is kind of like Green in that episode. She should stop acting like just another politician, and start being herself like she was at the convention and talking in her own words about things that she has been an expert on due to her experience as governor.

I have to agree with the writer, Sarah's natural, innate appeal is being ruined by the handlers assigned to get her ready for prime time ASAP. The problem there is that the people don't want to see another professional politician who has spent his or her adult life running for offices and adjusting his or her positions to hopefully match the mood of the electorate.

I don't think the voters want more slick political pros, the enthusiasm for Sarah that she inspired in Minneapolis and around the nation immediately thereafter is indicative of that mood IMHO. They want an honest, capable person who makes sense and talks straight, and Sarah was a prime example of that type candidate until McCain's inside the beltway pros got hold of her. She should have been allowed to just be herself as she appeared at the convention, but if she comes off as the female version of Dan Quayle tonight the new life and hope she gave to McCain's so far drab campaign will be lost along with the election.

BTW, don't underestimate Biden's expertise in his own field, which is getting himself reelected over and over again ad infinitum. If he was dumb as a rock he wouldn't have been a Senator since the last ice age. He may not qualify to be a member of Mensa, but then very few Mensa members are elected to a high government office.

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