BlogHer - What If It Was Palin That Teared Up? - Comments

evidence it is.

Paddycake — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 16:53:37 -0500

An Emotional Joe Biden Opens Up to Brody File about Family Tragedy

November 28, 2007

http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/276788.aspx

At this point, Biden looked down and paused for 15 seconds to collect
himself. “Excuse me,” he said, wiping his eyes. The crowd applauded.

http://embeds.blogs.foxnews.com/2008/09/25/joe-motion-biden-tears-up-in-...

I have seen live footage of more recent events but could spend hours looking for links.

I don't mean to seem heartless, the guy has every right to tear up when speaking about his family. I just think he should let others tell his story then it wouldn't seem like he is using his family's tragedy to suck people in.

teeth whiteners, hair plugs are irrelevant

Nordette — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:15:45 -0500

An attempt to improve one's looks has little to do with authenticity, especially in politics. It's a recognition that people are impressed by physical attractiveness and that folks who look dowdy tend to lose, as President Nixon learned when he debated John F. Kennedy. People thought Nixon's shirts looked dingy.

Palin's had a complete makeover, btw. The Republicans called in a team of professional stylists that's cost them big bucks to make Palin look stylish. I don't hold that against her. Seems to me that's just good sense. But if we want to argue authenticity from the perspective teeth whiteners and hair plugs, is she really "just folks" in expensive suits and touched by professional stylist?

I don't care that she's had a makeover. It's her record and words that concern me.

And so, her being remade by a stylist is not what makes me think she's glib and insincere. It's Palin's possibly narcissistic promotion of own mythology,
pandering to the American cult of personality while this nation faces crises.

In this election, we've heard far more about Sarah's special needs child from Sarah herself than we've heard Biden talk about the loss of his first wife and waiting by his sons' bedside. Perhaps that's why Palin forgot that she wasn't the only parent on the debate stage.

I understand why Biden said what he said and choked up and know why it struck both men and women as sincere, some of whom will still vote for McCain.

In contrast, Sarah pushes her motherhood and the challenges of her special needs child often and after while it doesn't sound like she's being a mother who's "just folks" as much as it sounds like she's a political player going for the heartstrings story.

Palin needs to quit reciting her press clips and talk about the issues as an educated contender who could be in line for the presidency one day. Heaven help us.

(edited code 10/6)

Nordette is a Contributing Editor with BlogHer.com whose personal blog is hosted on another site at this link.

I love Hillary and I think

fsteele — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 02:35:12 -0500

I love Hillary and I think Sarah is a good replacement in the most important ways. Once Palin breaks the glass ceiling as VP, I think it will be easier for Hillary to become President. For one thing, it will show a lot of men that mysogny doesn't work: Hillary survived it and so will Sarah.

They have the same can-do attitude, they are practical, wonks. They have the same -- zest in campaigning and competing with the boys. They are both wonderful role models.

I don't think there should

fsteele — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 02:17:39 -0500

I don't think there should be 'test words'. To reject someone for saying 'tree' for 'three' is racist. I think people should be allowed to spend their energy learning a subject (in Palin's case energy) instead of learning some strict standard Rain in Spain Stays Mainly on the Plain. I respect Palin for keeping her priorities in order.

Our most successful recent presidents were not US Ivy League: Reagan and Clinton.

As for sentence structure, the way a speech is transcribed can make it sound more or less grammatical. Palin's family were teachers; I've never heard her say anything like Michelle Obama's "There ain't no white folks in Iowa."

Tears for everyone

LeeAnn — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 01:23:41 -0500

I'd much rather focus on issues than over whether one or the other candidate cries or not. I am not sure if the tears on Senator Biden's part were calculated or not, because from personal experience I have to say that some losses are just so difficult that no matter how much time has passed, those feelings of loss are still there and probably always will be.

However, given that, I believe that it's important that we focus on issues, seriously focus on them, not on the way some candidate pronounces words or mispronounces them, not on whether someone could have an emotional moment or not.. but on how this election is going to impact the American people.

I think that there is much to recommend Governor Palin in what she has done in Alaska. I believe that that same spirit that has brought reform there will also bring reform to Washington. And don't we need that? Aren't you tired of your representatives ignoring you and sitting up there and getting rich? I was not for this bail out package; though I suppose something had to be done. Sadly, I still think there is way too much corruption in Washington.. we private citizens need to send someone there who will make some REAL CHANGES, not just talk about the change we need. I am tired of someone else deciding what I need. I know what I need. I need to be able to afford to fill up my car with gas. I need to be able to afford to buy groceries for my family. I need to be able to go to the doctor and have regular health care maintenance. I need to be able to fill my prescriptions and pay my bills.

Why are all the politicians becoming rich while we are the ones trying to figure out how to do all those things?

Isn't it time for somebody to shake up those Washington politicians and remind them that they are supposed to be representing US?

I have more faith in someone who has a record I can check, rather than someone like Senator Obama who has only spent perhaps 143 days in the Senate since being elected the very Junior Senator from Illinois. I wish he had a record more substantial that perhaps the Guiness Book of World Records for the most "present" votes in his State Senate as well.

I'm going to pin my hopes on someone who has a proven record of reaching across the aisle and trying to work for the people, Senator McCain and Governor Palin.

LeeAnn

I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides; I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace.
I honor the place within you where if you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, there is onl

Thanks Kim

JessSanders — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:41:41 -0500

A great point, Kim. Human is human, and no matter your political views a little bit of empathy goes a long way toward finding common ground.

I'm with NC Mom

blackbeltmama — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:14:46 -0500

I agree with NC Mom. Women are their own worst enemies. I think the treatment of all the campaigning women has been terrible. If she cries, she'll get slammed for it. If she doesn't, people want more emotion. And the claim that "she is George W. Bush"? Obviously, someone hasn't done their research except for listening to the liberal media. I read the book by Kaylene Johnson about her and her life up to her inauguration as Governor of Alaska. It's an inspiring story for any woman to read, regardless of party affiliation. Unlike Bush, she wasn't born into politics or money, but worked hard for everything she got and got there by thinking about the people and without taking money from private corporations and even citizens (she felt they were better off keeping their money and all she really needed was their vote anyway).

I'm voting Republican, but I've done my research on all of the candidates to make an informed decision. How many people can say they've actually sought out information other than what is being spoon fed by the media?

I mean no disrespect, but find it incredulous how Palin is being treated in this election. I'm most surprised of her treatment by other women. Although I was never a Hillary fan, I was thrilled that there was a woman on the ticket, finally, even if it wasn't a woman who represented my values. Women are breaking glass ceilings in this election and regardless of party, we should at least respect that.

Link TextBlack Belt Mama

Where is the reason?

JC — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 20:18:34 -0500

Some pretty ugly words. Where is the reason? Interesting handle, "Observer."

Well, for one thing, in the

fsteele — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:43:38 -0500

Well, for one thing, in the diner in NH HIllary was caught off guard by a question about "How do you get up in the morning, who does your hair?" She was touched that the qustionier showed personal concern. Hillary's emotion was certainly spontaneous. Adn I haven't seen any reports of Hillary doing the same thing in other situations.

Biden himself brought up the subject of his family and led into the story. And he has been accused of doing the same thing in many speeches. (Haven't seen any proof of that yet.) Didn't even the cameraman seem to predict where he was going, and go into a closeup at the right moment -- on live coverage.

If Biden really has done this repeatedly, then even if teh reaction is sincere, he wold know by now that telling that story DOES make him tear -- so if he didn't want to tear, he wouldn't tell the story.

"Nuclear" is a test word

Nordette — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:27:52 -0500

I did an audition once to read for radio (and I passed it although I was scared to death) but one of the words was "nuclear." Down here people often mispronounce the word "three" as "tree," a throwback to African dialect. The word "three" was also on the test.

While we may excuse people who don't hear well and so mispronounce words sometimes and while we may agree certain dialects and accents add flavor, the consistent mispronunciation of words by an individual with good hearing or one who claims to be educated is a sign of poor reading skills and weak literacy. In fact, the test of knowing a word is that you know its meaning, can use it in a sentence, can spell it, and yes, can pronounce it correctly.

Despite an attempt by one commenter to equate stuttering with consistent mispronunciation, stuttering is not a sign of lack of comprehension or poor literacy. Obama has an occasional stutter and is a very literate person.

I'm not surprised Palin has this problem with words. From what I've heard she's not big on reading, and that brings me to Suzanne's point. I too am weary of Bushisms and the years of living ignorantly (dangerous manglings of the English language.) I am well past weary of people equating being well-educated with being elitist. That's bullsh*t. No wonder our education system is in trouble. A major American party in this country is promoting an idea that being well-educated is a bad thing, but that's to be expected, I suppose, when we consider where education lands in its representatives' budgets.

What happened to striving for excellence?

Furthermore, speaking in dialect or with an accent does not relieve a public official from the obligation to make sense. A major duty of a public official is to communicate well with the public. Sometimes Palin sounds like she can't string together a coherent sentence.

I could go into how one's performance language should surpass one's informal language and that in a debate we should see performance language, but that's another post.

So, what can I say? Her ascendancy shows that anyone can rise to power in this country with a certain type of suburban packaging. Anyone.

(edited for some typos on 10/5, and I probably did not catch them all)

Nordette is a Contributing Editor with BlogHer.com whose personal blog is hosted on another site at this link.

evidence?

fsteele — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:18:26 -0500

That's a pretty serious charge against Biden. If it's true, there should be videos showing many clips of him tearing in different speeches. Where are they?

I admit it looked phoney to me, the way he set it up, and it having nothing to do with the subject at hand. At least Sarah wasn't fazed or thrown off stride. Iifc she didn't try to top it, she just ignored it and stayed on topic.

Can we acknowledge the humanity of people with whom we disagree?

Kim Pearson — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:09:48 -0500

Joe Biden experienced a horrific loss. Do you have to like him or his politics to be able to accept that maybe it still upsets him at times?

KimBlogHer Contributing Editor|Professor Kim|

Biden given a pass

Observer — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:08:31 -0500

If it was palin, CNN,MSNBC, ABC, CBS & all supporters of Obama will call her weak like they've done to Hillary (NH). The media has double standard in treating this 4 candidates; they've lost their credibility, zero on ethics. lets face it, MSM is carrying Obama's water bottle since the start of primary, campaigning for him out in the open. lets cut too many fancy words, its plain and simple filth; MSM take 90% of the filth.

The toker and the boozer running for the Dems, heck, you can't go wrong on that; sure formula for taking down this country faster than you can say to your wife, "honey I shrunk the kids."

Tears work for men too!!

Barb P — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:01:15 -0500

I do not see Biden as authentic, therefore his tears did not seem genuine. It seemed too rehearsed..it did not seem to come naturally. With his hair plugs and teeth whiteners he just did not give me the impression that his tears were real...just used to get symapthy from the female voters. By some of the comments here I see that it has worked to some degree...Sad!!

Tearing up

wild boomba — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 16:53:17 -0500

I agree. Sarah Palin would be perceived as weak if she had teared up, and that isn't fair. But, what concerns me is that after Joe Biden teared up, she just went on as if he had just said something about the weather. She didn't even acknowledge his obvious sincere pain. AT ALL. If she had just even given him a sympathetic or empathetic look, I would have felt that she was being respectful of his horrific experiences. But she just went on to not answering the next question. There's such a thing as being too unemotional.

What If It Was Palin That Teared Up?

Erin Kotecki Vest — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 22:22:51 -0500

Senator Joe Biden teared up during his debate with Governor Sarah Palin, and at my debate watch party we were riveted, touched, and applauding.

We weren't the only ones.

BuzzEdition, Susan, says, "Biden was more "Joe Sixpack" in that moment talking about his family than I have ever seen before. I'm touched and impressed."

BlogHer's Nordette writes, "Biden choked up a tad speaking about his family. While I think it would not be in Sarah's interest to choke up as a woman (we know people would slam her for that), I do think that her answers, even her stories about her children, sound glib and rehearsed. Biden sounds more sincere.'

Nordette brings up a great point- could Palin have teared up like Biden did?

SharonMcP says, "it showed the pain of a loving concerned father, however if Palin had done it she would have been charcterized as weepy woman."

Although Nancy says, "To borrow a phrase, there's no crying in Wasilla."

When Senator Clinton teared up during a campaign stop, reaction was a bit more mixed.

SisterToldjah writes, "Compare that with the lack of sustained media interest over several incidents of Joe Biden caught tearing up on the campaign trail. Yeah, several outlets reported on it, but you didn’t see the wall to wall, 24-7 coverage of any of the incidents like we did with Hillary Clinton’s show of her “softer side” while in NH."

Jenny Decki says Palin couldn't have done it. Period. "If she had teared up, she would have looked weak. Chicks can't cry on the campaign trail, yo. She had on her big girl panties."

What do you think?