"I'm sure I'm not the only male in America who, when Palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, "Hey, I think she just winked at me."

Who, or shall I say what, sat up a little straighter? hmmmm???

My god, Rich needs to date more.  Then he will realize that the only people who wink to be alluring or inticing are those who expect payment at the end of the night.

Did he go on to call critics of Palin sexist?

He's almost right, except instead of sitting up straighter I leaned forward incredulously, and instead of saying "Hey, I think she just winked at me" I said "WTF, is something wrong with her eye?"

Seriously, I thought the winking was involuntary and I sorta felt sorry for her.  Today I hear that it's her fucking STRATEGY.  I guess I should be relieved that she wasn't having a stroke.

tomeg,

I can't believe you just went there.

There's a great scene from the old Batman tv series (recall a previousTNR online post that everything in this race relates to Batman) where Joker's moll tries to escape arrest by wrapping her arms around the Caped Crusader and saying "couldn't we talk this over, handsome?"  Batman slaps on the batcuffs and says "poor deluded female."  

Personally, I could never support a candidate who arouses me physically. That's why I couldn't vote for Estes Kefauver (sigh).

Vomit!

So basically, Palin doesn't have any substance, but at least she's cemented her lead role in Republican Male wet dreams.

It wasn't a debate win, it was a debate, "Schwing!"

Don't forget to mention the legs/ass shot that the cameras kept going to during the taping.  I'm not certain, but I don't think we saw so many full-body profile shots of McCain and Obama during last Friday's debate.

I bet Lowry loses a lot of money at strip clubs.  

Maybe you just have to be an old codger... but I don't find her very attractive at all.

*  annoying voice -- check

*  bitchy attitude -- check

*  dumb as a brick -- check

So what is the spin this year?  Instead of "Someone you would like to have a beer with" to "Someone you would like to spend some time in the sack with".

Yeah America is headed for the shit storm they deserve.  Every day I listen to this republican BS I start really understanding the meaning of Wrights "God DAMN America!"

Not to defend the practice, but it is interview CW among us "common folk" that appearances and attitude are critical; I also believe there are studies that show attractive people, which I believe includes mannerisms, wardrobe and personality in additional to physical attractiveness, fair better in interviews and promotions. Simply put, she was being a politician and working the audience.

Other than that, it looks like the Republican Punditry are back in VPILF mode.

Are republicans the only ones who think she is attractive? That voice is so grating and her demeanor is so chirpy it makes me wants to stick an icepick in my ear. Plus she could use some gym time. Maybe if she cut back to only reading half of all known publications rather than all of them she would have more time for the treadmill....

This comment reminds me of that episode of Family Guy where Peter had declared independence, and the electricity was cut off, and when he and Lois were talking in the dark, the light from the flashlight Peter was holding kept drifting to her boobs instead of her face.

Rich Lowry just established himself as the Peter Griffin of Punditistan.  Let him revel in that.  One question: are the US people electing a Commander in Chief or a Whore in Chief?  Because, your know Rich, she doesn't know you and doesn't really like you, and is winking only for your vote.  There is a name for that profession - using sex for benefits - and Presidential Politics it is not.

I have to agree totally with TLaBorn: the Palin reminds me of every vapid, inane, grasping, superficial, fast-talking, empty-headed Cleopatra wanna-be I met in university and at work, and I have read about in history; having thrown her daughter to the "Fucken' redneck" Levi for political gain, she is Medea to the core.

But then, we've seen this movie before - Bill Clinton almost losing his Presidency and certainly losing Gore's, over a blowjob; Spitzer - a potential future President - spending $80K on whores; and now the Repug punditry oozing compliments at the sight of the Palin ... Good grief.

So what's the GOP line this election?

Women, vote for McCain because Palin has lady parts!

Men, vote for McCain because Palin has lady parts!

I dream of a day when this country has more than one party that takes real issues seriously...

How ironic.  When she winked at ME, I sat up a little bit gayer.

One thing that's funny about this (if you're the sort of person who would be cracking jokes on the Titanic as it sank into the sea) is that Sarah's best point is supposed to be her authenticity. But, it was painfully obvious that she did not utter a single thought that she generated in her own head - everything she said was canned cant, barely memorized and obviously undigested, obviously not part of any integrated worldview.

When conservatives said "free Sarah Palin" they didn't mean "let Sarah be Sarah" but rather "she needs to emphasize that 'regular gal' schtick, it really kills with the booboisie." Some of the boobs will no doubt be fooled (hell, there are people who think W's authentic!), but a large number are probably smarter than Lowry and his ilk give them credit for. We'll see.  

The politics of, "It's not sexist if Rich Lowry says it."

I'll bet Rich also hits on waitresses and bank tellers because he's convinced they're flirting with him.

Dr D  -  please warn me before you're going to be that funny, I just spit my diet coke all over myself.

Flirting qualifies her for President, doncha see? No? Sexist pig! Liberal hypocrite, elite who doesn't see what any American red-blooded male would see.

You guys think it's bad? It's just the beginning. Elizabeth Hasselbeck will be the next Republican nominee. You heard it here first.

That's the payment iof the American people for TV addiction. You cant fuck your brains forever without consequences. The disaster is already here. Candidates are not judged by their substance, but by how they look on TV and by their body language. Are they cretins but have strong language? Well, that's enough for being US President. George W. Bush is just the beginning. As long as cretins like him or Sarah Palin have a chance, things cannot turn out other than really really bad.

Imagine choosing your heart surgeon based on the fact that she knows to dress a moose or that she has folksy charm. Would you feel good that she knows how to dress a moose as you are about to go under the knife? No? Then why choosing a president based on such stuff?

Palin is a decent spokesmodel -- like you see at the auto shows.  She can talk horsepower and nav systems.  But all that is just stuff she had memorized from a piece of paper somebody gave her -- a set of talking points, if you will.  She doesn't actually know anything about cars, and you wouldn't even ask her to change your oil.  Palin came off okay in the debate because she was never asked to stray from that piece of paper.  As soon as you press her to go beyond that -- as Couric has been doing relentlessly -- she falls apart.

Drdannyu, LOL. I'll bet la Palin's wink made you choose homosexuality?

I think Slate had a good take on her shtick as a sexy Puritan.  www.slate.com/.../2200814

"Elizabeth Hasselbeck will be the next Republican nominee. You heard it here first."

As usual, sleepy, I hope you're wrong. I'm not holding my breath, though.

What would Bill Buckley think about Palin?  And the conversatives' swooning over her?  My best buddy is a conservative and, notwithstanding, very smart, but he too is swooning over Palin.  I am a liberal but I would have been mortified if Obama had picked, for example, Dennis Kocinich as his VP (sorry, but even with a pretty wife, he is not presidential material).  To deny what is in plain view makes me wonder if the conservatives have slipped over the edge.  And if they are unable or unwilling (it makes no difference) to see Palin clearly, what can we expect from them in the event of a constitutional crisis.  If Obama "wins" but SCOTUS designates McCain the victor in a clearly partisan and indefensible decision (I know, many say that has already happened), would the conservatives side with the constitution or with McCain?  Is our democracy that fragile?

Fragile, raylward?  It's survived a lot, but it's not impervious to harm.  And your phrase "deny what is in plain view" is a good basic label for present day American conservatism in its bottomless populist resentment and misdirected fury.  In many respects, the slogans about "the Republican party today wants to roll back the New Deal" are too restrained.  There are plenty of Republicans who want to roll back the French Revolution and the Enlightenment too.  In its extreme form that political culture involves the embrace of violence, the fear of thinking, the hatred of criticism, the distaste for science.  Denying what is in plain sight is a sign, in psychiatric terms, of advanced schizophrenic behavior.  To that extent, extreme American conservatives are going insane (in fact, extremist politics of any stripe can involve that kind of denial) and they can damage our democracy as they go down.

It's clear that one major change has come about, however, and that is that conservatism has in many ways shucked off the dislike for women in power that used to be one of its characteristics.  In fact, I have a suspicion that a new kind of conservative female is coming on the scene who doesn't feel the same requirement to be cautious, to make some gesture toward moderation and mainstream values, that male conservatives work under.  They can risk going into dangerous areas (e.g. racial paranoia) because it's accompanied by a patina of ostensible feminine charm.  To that extent, Palin is getting away with the mean stuff because everyone knows you can't hit a girl.

dear God raylward, now I won't be able to sleep tonight (shiver).

You know, I thought about this - of course I don't mind flirting hicks as politicians - is there a bigger flirting hick than Bill Clinton to this day?  No.  He's also so incandecently brilliant, its scary.

Devoid of context, being a hick or a flirt are meaningless.  But to accept someone who has ONLY these qualties as Presidential material is very depressing.

PS I loved Bill Buckely, warts and all and I'm a liberal Democrat.  I miss him.

I have no doubt he'd be appalled by Palin, he was an unashamed monarchist snob. But would love all the irritated liberals!

"To that extent, Palin is getting away with the mean stuff because everyone knows you can't hit a girl."

That will change too Irony.  Women are much more vicious than men, the culture will learn that one the hard way and fighting back will become perfectly acceptable.  

Wandrey:  Don't worry.  The end is near, and it looks pretty.  Even Krauthammer the Hack has left the Palin shipwreck:

"You can't blame McCain. In an election in which all the fundamentals are working for the opposition, he feels he has to keep throwing long in order to keep hope alive. Nonetheless, his frenetic improvisation has perversely (for him) framed the rookie challenger favorably as calm, steady and cool.

In the primary campaign, Obama was cool as in hip. Now Obama is cool as in collected. He has the discipline to let slow and steady carry him to victory. He has not at all distinguished himself in this economic crisis -- nor, one might add, in any other during his national career -- but detachment has served him well. He understands that this election, like the election of 1980, demands only one thing of the challenger: Make yourself acceptable. Once Ronald Reagan convinced America that he was not menacing, he won in a landslide. If Obama convinces the electorate that he is not too exotic or green or unprepared, he wins as well...

Obama has shown that he is a man of limited experience, questionable convictions, deeply troubling associations (Jeremiah Wright, William Ayers, Tony Rezko) and an alarming lack of self-definition -- do you really know who he is and what he believes? Nonetheless, he's got both a first-class intellect and a first-class temperament. That will likely be enough to make him president."

McCain-Palin, RIP.

My rxn was exactly the same as ratnerstar's.  Exactly.  As in, "Did she really just wink?"  And then, "Did that really just happen -- again?"  What I saw last night was a local sportscaster, delivering the news.  So long as she could read off her cards, she was fine.  When she had to adlib, though, she kept coming back to the same tired refrains:  maverick, be all end all, also...

"I'm sure I'm not the only male in America..." bla, bla, bla. "...little starbursts through the screen and ricocheting around the living rooms..."

Now I get it. Ol' Rich rented a Jenna Jameson film and his house burned down. Maybe he should have his television checked out?

By the way, one of the oddest things last night, that I don't think anyone has mentioned so far, was the way in which Palin segued a couple of times from asserting stridently that a McCain administration would regulate the ass off of Wall Street and protect Americans from predatory lenders etc, almost straight into her "hey government, get out of our way!" drivel.

She was the walking talking proof of the complete confusion that Republicans suffer under, in which government is meant both to go away and simultaneously be on hand to help solve a major crisis.  In fact, I thought Biden lost a chance to call her on that contradiction.

According to the NYT blog, Sarah P was greeted by protestors at the airport today with signs that said:

“Sarah Don’t Wink at Me, Ever.”

“All Hat and No Moose.”

“Lipstick on a Bush."

And this was in friggin Texas! Not California or NY or Mass--Texas!

Two more things, regarding the odd lines of attack that Palin has been taking:

1. Last night SP kept trying to cut the link between McCain and Bush by chastising Joe Biden everytime he brought up W's colossal failures. There you go, she would say, looking backward toward the past. Over and over again, she recited this little meme, that attacking the Bush administration is looking backward toward the past.

I almost screamed at the TV screen: BUSH IS PRESIDENT RIGHT NOW, NOT IN THE PAST, HIS FAILURES ARE AFFECTING ALL OF US RIGHT NOW! LOOK AT THE WALL STREET DEBACLE, LOOK AT THE RESURGENCE OF THE TALIBAN IN AFGHANISTAN, LOOK AT AL QAEDA HIDING OUT IN THE HILLS OF PAKISTAN--ALL OF THIS IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW, NOT IN THE PAST, NOW!

Couldn't believe Biden didn't pick up on this. Hope BHO is able to point out the obvious (that he's not talking about the past, he's talking about the present) when McCain tries this same phony line of attack.

2. Today Palin is apparently feeling vindicated, simply because she didn't fumble spectacularly in the debate (though she did fumble repeatedly, not answering the question that was asked, reciting the same catch phrases over and over, saying she AGREED with Cheney's ridiculous interpretation of the VP's office as belonging to the congressional branch).

So the newly emboldened SP is now attacking Katie Couric for Palin's OWN failings in their interviews.

This is from the NYT blog:

“Honestly, the Sarah Palin in those interviews is a little bit annoyed,” Ms. Palin said, smiling broadly, “Because it’s like, man, you know, no matter what you say, you’re gonna get clobbered.”

“In those Katie Couric interviews,” she said, “I did feel that there were a lot of things that she was missing.”

Sometimes it feels as though we're living inside the pages of a George Orwell novel. . .

The audience numbers are in, and they are massive, unprecedented.

www.thrfeed.com/.../vp-debate-ratin.html

In marketing terms, Palin is now the new face for the brand, the new leader of the party. Seeya, John.

And considering the unanimous consensus that Biden walked away with it, the Democrats are in better shape than ever.

Now John McCain is stuck with this monster he created: a shallow, narcissistic white trash populist who is falling in love with the sound of her voice. Look for her to start hiring/firing her own staff, and snubbing Cindy.

Cindy McCain probably can't believe her eyes. She's spent all of this money to see this kook steal the spotlight?

“In those Katie Couric interviews,” she said, “I did feel that there were a lot of things that she was missing.”

There were indeed.  An interviewee who could answer questions, for one thing.

One last thing about Rich Lowry's stiffened, er, spine.

Many observers (including late night talk show hosts like Conan O'Brien) have pointed out that Palin has an irritating voice, a voice so obnoxious that (according to O'Brien & others) it could easily deflate any potential attraction, any potential libidinous appeal, any potential Lowrian stiffness (except, of course, for Lowry himself).

But has anyone else noticed SP's weird upper lip? Last night during the debate, It always seemed  frozen in some sort of half curl, like a latent, churlish sneer.

Other than her voice, other than virtually every sentence she speaks, that perpetual, frozen half-sneer is one of the more off-putting aspects of her less-than-vice-presidential self.

Joe, I'm not a big fan of stiff upper labia, either.

Palin's schtick about looking backward toward the past was priceless.  Apparently the past no longer matters!  Bush as a colossal failure? Ancient history! McCain as cheerleader for deregulation? This is about looking forward!

The strategy doesn't work so well in everyday life

Annoyed Roommate: You left the kitchen a complete mess after you made dinner last night

Me: You've gotta stop living in the past.

Friend: Heads or tails?

Me: Heads

(coin flipped, comes up tails)

Me: I win!

Friend: But you called heads

Me: Stop always looking backward to the past.

A special treat for National Review editor smitten middle-schooler Rich Lowry: Lucille Bluth, frontrunner

Interestingly, my female coworkers singled out the wink as an especially obnoxious moment.

Lowry sounds like the kind of guy who thinks that strippers genuinely think he's handsome and special.

JosephCuomo,

RE:  Palin's lips.  I suspect Botox contributes in some small way to the frozen quality.  Add that to her snide character and everything is illuminated.

(Well, okay, not everything.  Only the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory could possibly begin to illuminate everything about this woman.)

Palin took the MMPI and got an "incomplete" - "There were no essay questions so I couldn't talk about energy and what hockey moms think about current issues, so naturally I couldn't finish the test."

Geoff G, yes....and that goshdarn test is full of gotchas!

THis is from a reader comment to Sullivan's site, which he printed today:

In reaction to Rich Lowry, I'm sure I'm not the only woman who, upon reading his words, sat up a little straighter and said, "Is he kidding?  Is he goddamn kidding me?"  Is this the kind of reaction the women in this country should want men to have to the possible first female Vice Presidential candidate in history?  Holy hell.

I thought Palin's performance at the debate was downright embarrassing and on top of that I have to read this clown's blog, stating more or less that Palin gave him an erection? Little starbursts my ass.  Here's what I thought when Palin "dropped" that first wink at us: "Did she just wink at us like she was America's cocktail waitress?" Rich Lowry is on the verge of slapping Sarah Palin on the ass and asking her for another of those fantastic whiskey sours.  

Clicking and scrolling for an active thread I couldn't believe when I saw this one still had legs ("still had legs?"..nnh). Clicked the link to the source, couldn't believe that either. I mean, wouldn't you be embarrassed *if you'd written the blog*?? What a dork! ("dork?"...uhnnh).

After a frantic search and scroll, Thank My Lucky Little Starbursts drdann (Lord bless and keep him), restored me to Chosen Gay Sanity. Rejoicing, I too rose a Little Chosen Gayer. I mean, it is well nigh impossible for any Self Respecting Chosen Gay Homosexual To Conceive such a delirium, let alone set it to html and...gasp...publish it. Heterosexuals Are So Unchosen, and some are More Unchosen Than The Rest. A single chromosome can't come close to explain such madness.