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The Politics of Lipstick
This blog is in response to this article in the New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/13/us/politics/13mccain.html?hp "Politics is a game," I hear some say. A game it is; albeit one with potentially grave consequences. We are, after all choosing the next leader of the free world. It comes as no surprise to those of us who have been around for awhile that the negative rhetoric of the presidential campaign has intensified as we head into Election Day. What has changed, at least for me is the new lows to which candidates are willing to stoop.According to polls, few among us are happy with the job that George Bush has done. Yet according to polls, voters are currently favoring the Republican candidate who embraces the same policies as George Bush. In addition, John McCain is using the same unethical political tactics, courtesy of the same people who wanted George Bush in office.With the economy in the tank; the quagmire in the Middle East growing increasingly complicated; and Americans in increasing numbers concerned about healthcare, jobs, education and retirement; how can this be?In this recent article, Professor of Cognitive Science and Linguistics, George Lakoff says that rather than choosing a leader based on the issues that affect us, Americans vote on these characteristics, "Values; Authenticity; Communication and connection; Trust; and Identity." He says that "McCain and Palin are being marketed as American icons: the war hero and the ideal mom." Lakoff advises Obama to drop his thoughtful discussion of the issues in favor of an identity campaign in order to regain his favor with voters.My dilemma is this: if the candidates don't run on the issues how are we, the voters, to know where they stand?I believe that meaningful change comes from the bottom up rather than the top down. Perhaps it is time we voters change the rules of this game called politics and consequently take our government and our country back. That would take responsibility on the part of voters to check for accuracy in advertising and statements by the candidates. My Grandson suggests the candidates be connected to lie detectors during debates. Hopefully, such drastic measures won't be necessary for voters to see the pig for the lipstick.
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13 September 2008
at 11:34 a.m.
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kansascrone (Virginia Rigney) says…
poo - i must learn to hyperlink. here is the link to Lakoff's article http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008…
13 September 2008
at 3:48 p.m.
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Logan72 (Alia Ahmed) says…
Ginny,As usual, I enjoyed your blog and think it makes a lot of sense. Am I very confident that things will change and the majority of voters will look at the issues instead of voting via a herd mentality based on sound bytes and falsely created party icons? Yes, that will happen when pigs with lipstick fly!!!!!
13 September 2008
at 11:51 p.m.
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just_jazz (Anonymous) says…
I like the idea of lie detectors. Best idea I've heard in a very long time.It is appalling that McCain is running a campaign that mirrors that of George W. Bush's in 2000/2004. If he will stoop to such lows (and how pathetic that Americans follow it), what does that say about what kind of president he would be if elected?Let's hope Americans are smarter this time around, and we don't have to endure the same kind of humiliation we did in 2004.
14 September 2008
at 8:16 a.m.
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kansascrone (Virginia Rigney) says…
alia - “when pigs with lipstick fly” - funny. i understand - call me in-denial but i refuse to give up hope.jazz - apparently the key to winning over voters is to talk about anything BUT the issues. when pressed for their positions and records - republican candidates lie and no one cares enough to check it out. lie detectors would solve that problem. what would be nicer though, is if american voters did their homework and became competent in the game of politics.
14 September 2008
at 10:29 a.m.
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eileenroddy (Eileen Roddy) says…
Kansascrone, thanks for the link to Lakoff's article which I enjoyed. I agree with him that people are attracted to a leader who has values, authenticity, character, connection and communication. I don't think he was saying that they have to be separated from the issues. The problem arises when someone who has all of the above - lays those aside and talks about issues only in a dull, deadpan way. It seems to be a human trait that we are attracted not just by what people say but by HOW they say it.As I look back on the teachers who influenced me - particularly in my love of literature and theology - they weren't necessarily the ones who KNEW the most (although they certainly knew enough to know how little they knew in the vast areas within their subject,) but the ones who appeared alive, excited by possibilities, and who were willing to think outside the box - and invited me to journey with them.It can be harder to judge the issues today with the power of instant technological communication lines, but I still think this is an exciting time in America. It's a time when we are initially attracted by the “surface” issues first, but it's given many of us the invitation and opportuntiy to be excited and involved, at some level, in the dialogues leading up to the election.
14 September 2008
at 11:23 a.m.
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verity (Anonymous) says…
I keep waiting for a “but ask what you can do for your country” type of speech.If anybody is paying the slightest attention, they know what the issues are.If I recall correctly, Obama did say in his acceptance speech that change comes from the bottom up. However, I think we all respond to being called to action, to believe that in however small a way, we can make a difference. Remember the popularity of the Peace Corp and VISTA programs? (Not the Microsoft OS.) They still exist but are barely visible. That is what I see lacking in this campaign. I think that if a candidate appealed to the universal desire to make a a difference, to think of others and not only ourselves, rather than the negatively now prevalent in almost all campaigns, he/she would have no trouble winning.
14 September 2008
at 11:58 a.m.
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verity (Anonymous) says…
I would like to know more about how the presidential polls are conducted, who conducts them, what the questions are and who is being asked. This important information seems to be rarely available. Anybody with any ideas about how to get this information? Am I just not looking in the right place?
14 September 2008
at 1:12 p.m.
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JJE007 (Anonymous) says…
I can't believe that the two party system proceeds towards their complicit war with no diplomacy initiatives. It's ridiculous that the populace can't demand more from candidates not yet in office.”Our” politicians are like ruffling sails, dumping their wind and those that seek a tact against their lies.They buck up and take to task those who rail against them, lobbying incessantly for the entrenched ways of beating systems ever more protected by their rule.We have created a two-headed monster with intimate goals and exclusive means.The groupthink is palpable and brutally used by the usury masters and their media.We are doomed until we scrawl our writing on their walls or they run for hills and leave us on the plain.Some blame the infidels and others the gods of those who blame. It is all the same. Each peon and sycophant is free, encouraged and empowered to blame as it makes no difference in the elite's bottom line.Vote for fill-in-the-blank. The blank will be filled and rule beyond the lines of any ballot or constitution.Power corrupts and the most powerful nation corrupts absolutely as it writhes in the throes of of its date with death.
14 September 2008
at 1:27 p.m.
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BuffyloGal (Anonymous) says…
Can we please stop referring to POTUS as the leader of the free world? It really peeves the rest of the world that is free as well.
14 September 2008
at 1:42 p.m.
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Mr_Nancy_Boy_To_You (Tom Shewmon) says…
I'm a little embarassed for you Virginia. Did you not know that Obama's campaign has been orchestrated by a well known, high-dollar Chicago leftist, David Axelrod? This man by self-admission, takes a candidate and polishes the personality, and leaves politics aside or at least secondary. So you need to brush up on your gimmick before you spin off you propaganda on a blog. To imply this is the case with McCain/Palin makes you look ridiculous and ill-informed. But I know BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome) is now lost to (PPDS) Palin Panic Disorder Syndrome).
14 September 2008
at 2:01 p.m.
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Mr_Nancy_Boy_To_You (Tom Shewmon) says…
Before a leftist comes back and says I'm a lying right-wing extremist Bush lover, I'll oblige you from one of the most liberal outlets out there, the New York Times. “Axelrod's is a less grand, postideological approach, and his campaigns are rooted less in issues than in the particulars of his candidate's life. For him, running campaigns hitched to personality rather than ideology is a way of reclaiming fleeting authenticity.”This is from a NYT pc. called “Obama's Narrator”.http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/magazine/01axelrod.t.html?_r=1&oref=sloginThe liberal spin around here will make you dizzy–quick! Palin and McCain have been about issues–-the liberal media have demanded it be front and center with them, unlike Obama, who skates around with a free pass from the corrupt liberal media.
14 September 2008
at 2:52 p.m.
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towanda54 (Anonymous) says…
Tom Shewmon (Tom Shewmon) says: I'm a little embarassed for you Virginia.Tom, what a condescending remark from such a feminist as you!!! A woman who doesn't agree with your politics needs to be pitied, eh?
14 September 2008
at 2:57 p.m.
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Mr_Nancy_Boy_To_You (Tom Shewmon) says…
How'd you know I'm a feminist? Thanks for the laugh!
14 September 2008
at 3 p.m.
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towanda54 (Anonymous) says…
Tom,I'm a little embarrassed from you. Calling you a feminist was a bit sarcasm that when over your head. I'm not sure you should be pitying anyone.
14 September 2008
at 6:02 p.m.
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kansascrone (Virginia Rigney) says…
tom shewmon says …”I'm a little embarassed for you Virginia”tom - spoken (down) like a true conservative stereotype. if you read the pieces i linked to you would see that the mccain/palin ticket is up to their earlobes in bs. don't blush for me, i can take care of myself.
15 September 2008
at 12:11 p.m.
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lee66049 (Anonymous) says…
This is the state of affairs, when have a housing crisis, a lending crisis, Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and the left is worried about lipstick politics or Bush's approval ratings. We have an energy crisis and Obama wants to put air in tires. Washington is in a disarray and the smart people are asking real questions about how we can fix congress. Not about lipstick comments. If you like approval ratings, if that is on your mind….great, congress approval ratings are lower than President Bush's. Nancy Boyda has got to go. She had her chance and dropped the ball. Change congress, change the country.
16 September 2008
at 6:39 a.m.
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overthemoon (Anonymous) says…
The polls put McCain up by several points in Colorado…Yet Barak talks to 6000 in Grand Junction and 14000 in Pueblo while 3000 show up to see Palin give her convention speech again.
17 September 2008
at 8:44 p.m.
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tangential_reasoners_anonymous (Anonymous) says…
just_jazz: “I like the idea of lie detectors.Best idea I've heard in a very long time.”… replete with a voltaic feedback system. JJ: “Power corrupts and the most powerful nation corrupts absolutelyas it writhes in the throes of of its date with death.”… and, until then, unfortunately, its *wake* of death.