Palin for Vice President - Case Study Example

RUNNING HEAD: Palin for Vice President Sarah Palin and Her Battle to Become America’s First Female Republican Vice President Through the 2008 Presidential elections, in the United States, Sarah Palin proved to America and to the world that one should never underestimate the power and ability of a woman to lead. This paper explains how she made America both love her and hate her. Her remarkable strength and willpower allowed her to weather all sorts of controversies thrown her way throughout the duration of the election. Furthermore, this paper is about how she managed to ‘almost’ seal the seat for Vice Presidency. Sarah Palin: Her Battle to become America’s first Republican Vice President 2008 marked the year when John Mc Cain offered Sarah Palin the opportunity to join the Republican ticket, making her the first woman ever to do so. Mc Cain chose Palin because of her strong character and principles. Palin also had an admirable fighting spirit, and during the 2008 elections campaign for the United States presidency, this was quite evident. Palin’s background as a political science and journalism major back in the University of Idaho, from which she graduated in 1987, it was quite evident that she already had an interest in politics. A former beauty queen and also a former basketball star, she was nicknamed Sarah Barracuda for her intensity in the sport. This kind of attitude seemed to have stuck, and came to good use when she started dipping her toes in the messy world of politics. She first spent some time working in the city council of Wasilla, and even served as the city’s mayor between the years of 1996 to 2002. Before long, she was finally elected as the state governor of Alaska, and this was around the time when Mc Cain offered Palin the honour of being his running partner in the 2008 elections 1. Before this historical event, Palin was already well known outside of Alaska since coverage about her personal life already existed while being a state governor. Democrats initially did not take Palin seriously. She had family problems going on in her personal life, and many thought that her 2 year experience in politics as a governor was not enough to seal the majority of the votes for her to be the next Vice President. However, throughout the course of the election campaign towards who should be the next leaders of America, Palin proved the democrats wrong by proving to them what a strong woman she really is 2. An Evangelical Christian mother to five children, she won the hearts of many when she said that she would never abort a child who had Down’s syndrome, and this opinion came from her own experience, since her youngest child was diagnosed with the condition. In addition to this, her stand on families and children included helping special children should she become the next Vice President. 3 ‘A fighter against corruption’ was what Palin said to describe herself. She also mentioned that as a Republican, she was ‘conservative,’ and took her religion seriously. In fact, she was an active member of a prayer group back when she was still a mayor of Wasilla. She also believed in ‘free-market capitalism,’ wherein the market economy is almost or fully independent of government control, and that she was a ‘bipartisan reformer.’ As a member of the National Rifle Association, Palin took everyone by surprise when she announced that she supported the right to bear arms and how she gave such an importance towards gun safety and wanted to educate the youth about it 4. She was also against the increase in taxes and strongly rebutted Obama’s take on additional tax increases 5. In addition to this, the Mc Cain team also did not support abortion, (except when the mother’s life would be in danger), embryonic stem-cell research and same-sex marriage. Her stance on abortion however made the feminist movement angry, since the choice of committing an abortion defends women’s rights. As a result of Palin’s pro-life resolution, feminist activists stopped supporting her6. This came off as quite a surprise because during Bill Clinton’s term, women supported him despite reports of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, where the President was found out to have had an affair with a woman who was not his wife. Clinton’s advantage was primarily how he supported abortion and women’s rights.7 The hypocritical attitude of the feminists meant a huge disadvantage for Palin’s voter turnout. The conservative members of American society however, were more forgiving. As part of her strategy to seal their votes, Palin appealed to the large Christian community by appearing on radio shows such as ‘Focus on the family,’ a Colorado based radio program. The show has an estimated number of 1.5 listeners who tune to it every day and Sarah Palin aggressively campaigned her strong Christian views towards leading a better America. She reiterated time and time again how she wanted reform to take place in the country. 8 At the Republican National Convention, where she was able to re-energise the conservative party, she proved to be a force to be reckoned with. She delivered her speech with a strong conviction, and was frank about what she thought of their opponent, Barack Obama. All this she said without even naming him, referring to him as the ‘opponent.’ Needless to say, the public were impressed with her courage, and her sense of humour. However, during the first few days of the convention’s opening, news was rife that her 17 year old daughter had gotten pregnant out of wedlock. Her supporters still rallied behind her, and even admired her for supporting her daughter through such a difficult time. Following such scandals, were a series of unfortunate events, all of which were coincidentally occurring during a critical time in her life, when she needed to always put her best foot forward. She was accused of abusing her power, and when she fired the state’s top law enforcement official, headlines labelled Palin as a violator of human ethics. Media were particularly harsh towards Palin and her and her family. It did not help too that being a woman made coverage and press releases about her come out as sexist. Palin and her supporters complained that journalists were only reporting the ‘tip of the iceberg,’ which meant that they only reported what they wanted the public to read and hear, but they did not focus on the facts that really mattered. The media focused more on her personal life, rather than her potential as a good leader. The media were quick to retort that being part of the political bandwagon meant that Palin was now in the public eye, under public scrutiny and should expect harsh criticisms 9. This kind of negative press meant a huge blow to the Mc Cain-Palin campaign. Most Americans receive their news from local television shows, radio shows and newspapers. Therefore, even though they may be quite ignorant about politics and what is really going on, they can easily believe that whatever they hear or read is true. Palin was no exception to this rule. Suddenly, everyone had something to say about her, based on what the news that they have heard or read. This is because most people tend to be so gullible that whatever is released on the news is true, otherwise it would not be released. Therefore, they base their reasoning on such material, false or not 10. In addition to this, the expectations of people that mass media provides accurate information to the public during times of crisis, controversy and conflict further adds to why they believe what the media feeds them easily. Therefore, the best way for media to actually present the real facts is to provide live broadcasts from the political candidates themselves 11. It must be noted though, that the intense coverage Mc Cain and Palin received from the media may have just been the doorway for them to be as popular as they are. There was a time when the Mc Cain-Palin tandem was leading in the polls, the results of which scared the Democrats and provoked them to take action. It seems that Palin’s sudden celebrity-like status further increased her popularity. The public therefore, got to see another side of her. For instance, in the month of October, she guested on the popular television show, Saturday Night Live with Tina Fey, who played Sarah Palin. Palin herself appeared in two skits on the show, wherein a scene of Palin’s first conference was imitated, with the participation of Lorne Michaels. The public was delighted to see Palin take a break from her serious campaign mode, and it was interesting to see her dance in her seat while an Alaskan rap song played 12. There were also political analysts and people the world over who doubted Palin’s abilities and potential in politics. The world watched Palin as she travelled overseas and visited the US troops. Even through this political gesture of support for the troops, analysts still criticised Palin due to the lack of visits she made. Barely anyone thought that Palin was capable of handling such a stressful job, but she forged on, rallying towards a Republican-run America. An issue that was brought up also included the Republican party getting their hands on a $150,000 worth of clothes. Criticisms rolled in and people asked whether this was a right move for the party at such a stressful time. Palin, however, denied that she even asked for a new wardrobe 13. Other reports mentioned that she had made her campaign staff pay for her own personal clothes shopping spree on their credit cards. This kind of news instantly makes Sarah Palin somewhat of a celebrity. Everybody was eager to dish out the dirt on her own personal life and wanted to make her come out as flawed as possible. One of the main strategies of the Mc Cain-Palin team were to initiate personal attacks on their opponent, Barack Obama. The election battle was indeed fierce, and even though critics and analysts thought that this type of strategy reflected negatively on the Mc Cain team, dubbing it as pure immaturity, the Mc Cain-Palin team still continued. In fact, towards the end of July, controversy was ripe with the release of Mc Cain’s television advertisement against Obama. This advertisement shocked Americans and the whole world as Mc Cain brutally labelled Obama as arrogant and absolutely unfit to be president. The images of celebrities such as Britney Spears and Paris Hilton were also dragged into the advertisement. The Republicans wanted to portray Obama as an irresponsible candidate, who only used his popularity for his own personal gain 14. Sarah Palin’s fighting spirit was remarkable. In the month of October, it was getting more evident that the Mc Cain- Palin campaign was not doing so well in the polls. Suddenly, Palin started to express that not all her views were in line with Mc Cain’s. For instance, she stated that she did not approve of the constitutional ban against same-sex marriages as Mc Cain was campaigning for. This move raised eyebrows and people started to think that since the duo was on a losing end, Palin started to look out for herself and started to campaign her own good image 15. She wanted to take matters into her own hands, and when George Bush himself offered her his help, she nudged his offers aside and confidently assured him that she had the campaign under control. However, when negative polls showed no signs of improvement, Palin started to blame all those around her for negative image promotion. This blame extended to her handlers, and by this time, it was clear that Palin started to make her own decisions. In fact, a Mc Cain supporter even went so far as to tell reporters that Palin had turned into a diva, and started to not trust anyone, including her own family and friends 16. Democrats were not easy on her either. In fact, they were more brutal than the press. They had said that she was very hard to work 17with, and others had said that she was a bad mother, following the news of her daughter’s teenage pregnancy. Extreme comments against her included her being a racist as well. According to the Burlington County Times, towards mid- November, when election campaigns were heating up and it was almost clear that Mc Cain was losing, Palin continued to fight. She continued to insist that Mc Cain’s main opponent, Barack Obama was making a huge mistake by forming relationships with terrorists. In a fundraiser event held at Englewood in Colorado, Palin clearly stated how Obama was ‘palling around with terrorists.’ The Mc Cain-Palin duo continued to lash out negative messages to the public against the Obama team, telling everybody how Obama was making friends with the enemy and how such relationships could prove to be detrimental for the country’s safety 18. It seemed then, that Palin was taking over the campaign from Mc Cain, and when the Mc Cain team lost in the elections, by a landslide, it seemed too, that Palin was the one who was most disappointed about failing. She even went to far as to blame the Bush administration for being party responsible for her defeat 19. Still, she made sure that the Obama administration knew that the fight towards a Republican America was not over. In fact, Palin is actually being considered as a possible candidate for the US presidency in the year 2012. The biggest challenge now faced by Palin though, is how she can possibly rebuild the image that she has had on the American people, and should this image be negative, another challenge would be how to change it into something positive. Talks have been going on about her potential to influence the public, so networks have been considering her potential to work as a television host. Till then, her main concern would be to return back to Alaska and rebuild her relationship with the Democrats who she had offended throughout the duration of the campaign because of her vindictive attitude. Despite her defeat, her popularity remains evident and her strong-willed character may just be what the country needs. She is admirable in so many ways and has proven to be a woman worthy of being idolized because of her determination to speak out and be heard. A true fighter, it is clear that Sarah Palin would still remain in our consciousness in the years to follow. Works Cited BBCNEWS.com (2008) Profiles: Sarah. Retrieved on November 18 2008 from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7588542.stm Burlington County Times (November 16 2008) ‘The past is past,’ Governor Sarah, Willingboro, N.J, pg A.10. Retrieved November 18 2008 from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1595759711&sid=6&Fmt=3&clientId=20863&RQT=309&VName=PQD Charney, C. 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Retrieved on November 18 2008 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p196867_index.html The Huffington Post (October 18 2008) Sarah Palin on SNL with Tina Fey, weekend updates Alaska rap, Baldwin And Wahlberg. Retrieved on November 18 2008 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/18/sarah-palin-on-snl-with-t_n_135887.html GMA News (November 11 2008) Sarah Palin blames Bush policies for GOP defeat. Retrieved November 18 2008 from http://www.gmanews.tv/story/132711/Sarah-Palin-blames-Bush-policies-for-GOP-defeat Gold, M. (September 5 2008) Media on the defensive over Palin coverage. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 18 2008 from http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-na-mediaattacks5-2008sep05,0,6088101.story Herbert, B. (January 29 1998) In America; the Feminist Dilemma. The New York Times. Retrieved November 20 2008 from http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B04E7D8163AF93AA15752C0A96E958260 Montanaro, D. (2008) Mc Cain vs. Obama: That Britney-Paris ad. MSNBC.com Retrieved on November 18 2008 from http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/07/31/1236786.aspx Newsmax.com (October 22 2008) Palin: election results rests ‘in God’s hands.’ Retrieved November 18 2008 from http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/rel_palin_dobson/2008/10/22/143008.html Pelofsky, J. (October 26 2008) Is internal strife rippling through Mc Cain-Palin campaign? Reuters.com Retrieved on November 18 2008 from http://blogs.reuters.com/frontrow/2008/10/26/is-internal-strife-rippling-through-mccain-palin-campaign/ Riegert, K. M. and Olsson, E. (October 9 2008) The importance of ritual in crisis journalism. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Dresden International Congress Centre, Dresden, Germany Online. Retrieved on November 18 2008 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p91697_index.html Romano, L. (October24 2008) Ideology aside, this has been the year of the woman. The Washington Post. Retrieved November 18 2008 from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/23/AR2008102303827.html?hpid=artslot&sid=ST2008102303877&s_pos= Smith, B. (October 25 2008) Palin allies report rising camp tension. Retrieved on November 18 2008 from http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14929.html The Washington Times (August 31 2008) Sarah Palin: conservative maverick. Retrieved on November 18 2008 from http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/31/sarah-palin-conservative-maverick/ US magazine (September 2 2008) Sarah Palin: political opponent recalls being ridiculed. Retrieved November 18 2008 from http://www.usmagazine.com/sarah-palin-very-difficult-to-work-with Read More