An article by Craig Gilbert in Sunday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel caught my attention.
Image, issues compete to sway voter sentiment
Candidates’ impressions can be crux of tight race
Along with driving Democrats to distraction, the campaign "bounce" enjoyed by Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin has renewed old questions about how presidential contests are won and lost.
Does the personal (the heroic McCain biography, the feisty Palin persona) trump the partisan (an election climate that sharply favors the other side)?
Do attributes trump issues?
I don't have a problem with this topic per se.
I do have a problem with the timing of the article.
For months, when Barack Obama was ahead, why didn't the Journal Sentinel see fit to ponder the matter of how presidential contests are won and lost?
Why would it take the "campaign 'bounce' enjoyed by Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin" to renew those old questions?
The suggestion is that the Republicans used their convention to successfully sell an image to Americans, resulting in admiration for former P.O.W. John McCain and full-fledged Sarah Palin-mania. The McCain-Palin surge isn't about substance, just fluff.
Their "bounce" is supposedly about image, not issues. It's about packaging, selling a product, an advertising campaign. It's superficial.
So what was Obama's "bounce" about? When he was ahead in the polls, why didn't that renew questions about the importance of image and issues in deciding a presidential race?
Obama's supporters couldn't articulate why they backed him, other than that he was about hope and change. Very vague. Still, that didn't stop thousands from flocking to his rallies.
I didn't hear a lot of in-depth talk about issues from Obama. I didn't hear talk about Obama's qualifications and his experience. It was all image. A great deal of the excitement Obama generated wasn't based in his policy positions.
But it's when the Republicans have pulled ahead of the Democrats that suddenly image becomes a point of discussion.
Why are McCain and Palin reduced to "the heroic McCain biography" and "the feisty Palin persona"? This seems to be an effort to degrade them.
It's as if it's assumed that people couldn't possibly be in agreement with McCain and Palin on the issues.
Sure, personal attributes matter, but so do issues.
...What's been so unusual about the last two weeks of this campaign is not the role personality and character have played, but the role a running mate's personality and persona have played. Palin has both overshadowed the two nominees and, in McCain's case, boosted his image as well. Her youth, gender, personal background (working mother of five) and unconventional résumé (Washington outsiders are almost never chosen for vice president) seem to have helped McCain deflect attacks about being old and out of touch and "more of the same."
"It's very hard to talk about anything else other than her personality," former Bush strategist Matt Dowd told ABC's Diane Sawyer last week.
The Democrats and their media mouthpieces really have lost it over Palin.
Their obsession with her and their subsequent brutal attacks have fueled her popularity and boosted McCain's popularity.
They don't seem to get that it's not just Palin's image that has energized conservatives about the Republican ticket. It's also where Palin and McCain stand on the issues.
This isn't an Obama-type cult of personality thing. I think people really like Palin as a candidate. I think McCain has reassured them regarding his conservative credentials.
Think of it this way: If McCain had picked a young mother of five who is pro-abortion, anti-military, and in favor of big government, Republicans and conservatives would not have been so energized. I'm certain that's the case. I'm sure there would have been no bounce. In fact, there may have been a mutiny.
McCain had to pick a solid conservative running mate to placate the base and he did.
"The Palin Factor" is not just about image. It's much more than that.
Once again, the liberals are confused. They don't get it.
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