Thursday, September 04, 2008

Palin's Speech



Sort of a cheerier version of Nixon's Checkers speech. The parallels are striking. Both came from VP picks under tremendous pressure to perform. Both tapped into the politics of cultural resentment by lashing out at the media and liberal elites. Plus, both used their families as political props. At one point, I expected Palin to say, "And you know, the kids, like all kids, loved the baby, and I just want to say this, right now, that regardless of what they say about it, we are going to keep it!" Finally, the Checkers speech was enormously effective as, I suspect, Palin's speech will be as well.

2 comments:

vader said...

Several significant differences off my head.

1. Ike was very popular. He was a hero. He was courted by both parties. He marked the end of the Dem's 20 year run of holding the office of president. McCain is none of these. This the end of a GOP admin with attending dissatisfaction.

2. Nixon was explaining away his scandals. Palin on the other hand has just started her explaining of her scandles.

Anonymous said...

Another eerie parallel - to - be: both were elected Vice President.