Last night, Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin accepted the Republican nomination for Vice Presidency. It was hard to hate her. She used her journalistic and beauty pageant experience to address an audience infatuated with her endearing family and hockey mom jokes.
http://cdn1.ustream.tv/swf/4/viewer.25.swf?vid=685569
She directly attacked her critics, including the media that has poked around a little too much into her personal life. Obama agreed, saying, “I would strongly urge people to back off these kinds of stories. You know my mother had me when she was 18, and how a family deals with issues and, you know, teenage children, that shouldn't be the topic of our politics and I hope that anybody who is supporting me understands that's off limits.”
Despite Obama’s urging to lay off of Palin’s personal life, Palin throws in a few jabs at Obama. Critics of Palin questioned her experience, and she reciprocates it by questioning Obama’s (“I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,’ except that you have actual responsibilities”).
In a race where political identity plays such a strong role, Palin identified herself as a woman, mother of a soldier and disabled child, wife of a blue-collar worker, daughter, hockey mom, governor of Alaska, and former mayor. Adding Palin to the ticket grabbed the attention and support of evangelicals and rural citizens, but will likely also sway the disbled vote, military vote (although McCain doesn’t need too much help there), and even some women who want to see a woman in the White House (despite her pro-life stance).
With the evolution of media technology, voters are able to see candidates in a more personal and private light than ever before. So how much will biography and identification play a part in this election? We’ll find out in exactly two months.
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