Obama takes opportunity Palin missed

Perhaps this is the thing I was most angry at. The day after ranting about
how senseless killing shouldn't be used as an opportunity to engage in
partisan politics, Sarah Palin came out swinging in her very partisan way
when, to quote Mike Birbiglia, what she should have said was nothing (or,
rather, limit her comments to the sympathetic message on Facebook on
Saturday). As it is, it looked to me like she was using her video as a test
of her ability to be Presidential. (Unless everybody who has an opinion and
a webcam dresses for success, wears a flag lapel pin, and furthermore has a
large American flag in their kitchen.)

And that brings me to this story (and good Lord, is that really the link?):

http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/47543;_ylt=AhdyR.msK46X3F28V_RG8eZtGMV_;_ylu=X3oDMTJwZDlhcDRsBGFzc2V0Ay9zL3BvbGl0aWNvLzQ3NTQzBGNjb2RlA21wX2VjXzhfMTAEY3BvcwM4BHBvcwM4BHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDb2JhbWF0YWtlc29w
Obama takes opportunity Palin missed
 Jonathan Martin Jonathan Martin Thu Jan 13, 4:27 am ET

In the span of a single news cycle, Republicans got a jarring reminder of
two forces that could prevent them from retaking the presidency in next
year.

At sunrise in the East on Wednesday, Sarah Palin demonstrated that she has
little interest — or capacity — in moving beyond her brand of
grievance-based politics. And at sundown in the West, Barack
Obama<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/SIG=11obom7os/*http://topics.politico.com/index.cfm/topic/BarackObama>reminded
even his critics of his ability to rally disparate Americans around
a message of reconciliation.

Palin was defiant, making the case in a taped
speech<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/SIG=11mcn6bv4/*http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47477.html>she
posted online why the nation’s heated political debate should continue
unabated even after Saturday’s tragedy in Tucson. And, seeming to follow her
own advice, she swung back at her opponents, deeming the inflammatory notion
that she was in any way responsible for the shootings a “blood
libel.”  (See: Shooting presents 2012
test<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/SIG=11mcre0p7/*http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47465.html>)


Obama, speaking at a memorial service at the University of
Arizona<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/SIG=11m20o0rp/*http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47540.html>,
summoned the country to honor the victims, and especially9-year-old
Christina Taylor Green, by treating one another with more respect. “I want
America to be as good as Christina imagined it,” he said.

It’s difficult to imagine a starker contrast.

Many Republicans believe that it’s mostly the media that is obsessed with
Palin, and that there’s little chance she could win the party’s
nomination. (See: Republicans disappointed at
Palin<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/SIG=11m66qlpo/*http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47504.html>)


But if she does manage to, Wednesday illustrated why so many in the GOP fear
that it would be disastrous.

The former Alaska governor has a knack for supplying rhetoric that will
delight her supporters, send her critics howling and invariably create a
frenzy of coverage. But her response suggests she is capable of hitting just
that one note.

The production value — from the heavily scripted speech to the American flag
just behind her left shoulder — of Palin’s address appeared presidential.
With Obama set to speak later in the day, it almost had the feel of a State
of the Union response from the opposition. And, in condemning violence, she
displayed some flourishes that touched the country’s spirit. (See: Tragedy
marks turning point for
Palin<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/SIG=11mamhul8/*http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47351.html>)


“Yes, our debates are full of passion, but we settle our political
differences respectfully at the ballot box — as we did just two months ago,
and as our Republic enables us to do again in the next election, and the
next,” she said in her first on-camera remarks since the shooting of Rep.
Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.).

But for much of the eight-minute talk she was defensive and showed little
interest in doing anything other than channeling the understandable
resentment of her ideological kinsmen over the blame-casting. And that won’t
appeal much to a political center that — even while they may not think Palin
is in any way responsible for Tucson — preferred more conciliation even
before the jarring attempted assassination of a member of Congress. (See: Palin
grabs spotlight with
video<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/SIG=11mg9ebjd/*http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47532.html>)


Even on the right, her talk was seen as a missed opportunity.

“The strongest way to rise above would have been to talk about suffering,
tragedy, hope, strength and recovery,” said former Bush press secretary Ari
Fleischer. “Instead, she followed the more conventional political route and
made it about herself rather than the victims.”

At a moment when even the famously combative Fox News chief Roger
Ailes<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/SIG=11nfr7l2n/*http://topics.politico.com/index.cfm/topic/Rogerailes>was
saying take it down a notch, his most famous contract employee did
just
the opposite.

Her timing was especially maddening to some Republicans.

The furious response on the right to the notion that conservatives were
somehow responsible for the tragedy had been articulated by respected voices
such as George Will<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/SIG=11nvar6o0/*http://topics.politico.com/index.cfm/topic/georgewill>and
Charles
Krauthammer<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/SIG=11v1tgjm6/*http://topics.politico.com/index.cfm/topic/CharlesKrauthammer>,
each of whom wrote compelling columns. A CBS poll released Tuesday night
validated their claims, showing that 57 percent of Americans didn’t think
that the country’s harsh political tone had played a role in the shooting.
Most important though, there was mounting evidence that the gunman was a
deeply disturbed young man who was not motivated by any traditional
political cause. The left, it was becoming increasingly clear, had
overreached before she reignited the issue.

Further, Palin’s pushback served to reinforce the message behind Obama’s
speech, providing the president with an opportunity to transcend both the
immediate finger-pointing on the left at Palin and other conservatives and
her angry denunciation and counterattack. (See: Obama: 'I believe we can be
better'<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/SIG=11m8oa04d/*http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47535.html>)


What attracted so many centrist voters to then-candidate Obama in 2008
wasn’t any of his policy prescriptions but rather his pledge to change the
conversation in Washington. He hasn’t done it yet and has, at times, not
lived up to his own stated desire to bring down the temperature. But his
fundamental political worldview is that most Americans prefer conciliation
over confrontation.

And, speaking to a capacity basketball arena filled with leaders of both
parties and those touched by the tragedy, he appealed to that spirit.
(See: Mourning
turns to cheers<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/SIG=11mirma4b/*http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47538.html>)


“Rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame, let us use this occasion
to expand our moral imaginations, to listen to each other more carefully, to
sharpen our instincts for empathy, and remind ourselves of all the ways our
hopes and dreams are bound together,” implored the president.

The speech was a vivid example of the promise of Obama and a reminder of
why, even after so many missteps, he remains a formidable figure. (See: Obama
challenges America<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/politico/pl_politico/storytext/47543/39637999/SIG=11mohtgt7/*http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/47537.html>)


“It was supposed to be simply a chance to make a good speech, but it may be
more than that,” said GOP pollster Steve Lombardo after the address. “It may
be a time when we look back and say that he re-made himself tonight into the
President we thought he could be.”

Krauthammer, one of the president’s sharpest critics, suggested the speech
saw Obama find his role as head of state.

“I wouldn’t underestimate how this is going to affect the perception of
president,” Krauthammer said on Fox News after the memorial service,
comparing what Obama did in Tucson to President Bill Clinton’s speech
following the Oklahoma City bombing and President Reagan’s address in the
wake of the Challenger explosion.

What few Republicans wanted to say for attribution — but what was manifestly
clear — was that Palin had made Obama look even bigger than he was.

Her argument for conflict-oriented politics lent itself as the near-ideal
foil for his plea for civility. It was a clear contrast and, for
Republicans, a dispiriting one.


Johne Cook
| http://raygunrevival.com | http://authorculture.blogspot.com |

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