Originally posted by jamie83
I get my information from a group of feminists Hillary friends who thought he was outright misogynistic in his treatment of Hillary during his campaign.

What, specifically, was misogynistic about the way he treated Hillary? It's easy to say that he treated her badly, but how? What specifically, did he do that was sexist against Hillary?

Except win the election, of course.

Originally posted by Open_Minded Skeptic
I don't imagine it would be any real problem... other than her personal plumbing, she's no different than anybody else...

That is absolutely true. None of the intrinsic differences between men and women are politically relevant.

her policies and interests are more of the same stuff of BushCo, and should be easily attacked and demolished on that basis.

That is the part that I am uncertain about. There is an extrensic difference- specificially that of our cultural perceptions, which makes it unfavorable in the eyes of some people to attack and demolish a woman, especially if the woman in question is meeting the stereotypical expectations that those people have for women.

What prevents that sexist mindset from becoming unassailable is the compliment of disadvantageous sexist perceptions which accompany the above described advantageous one.

That is to say that although the sexist mindset will not tollerate Palin being torn apart, they expect her to fall apart through some fault of her own. Any weakness in her professional conduct will be seen as a sign that this is happening, while conversely any excessive application of strength on her part will violate the stereotypical expectations which will also be percieved as weakness, and simultaneously will make her fair game for attack.

I believe it is safe to expect that the socratic method will succeed, because Palin is from a very conservative state and has run very few political campaigns. She does not have nearly the same experience as the other candidates in having to adjust her phrasing and qualify her remarks so as to make her views palettable to the majority of voters nationwide while simultaneously keeping them consistent. It's not so much a matter of intellect as it is experience. Everyone else in this campaign, including Obama (who was the FNG before Palin showed up) has been practicing this art for AT LEAST a couple of years. Palin has been doing it for less than 48 hours. I expect her to sooner or later forget that she has an opinion that a key demographic doesn't want to hear, and put her foot in her mouth, more or less in the spirit of when Jerry Brown told a room full of New York Jews that he would consider running with Jesse Jackson in 1988 (Jackson had slurred Jews and Jews from New York in particular only 4 years earlier, and hadn't been forgotten).

I expect her to sooner or later forget that she has an opinion that a key demographic doesn't want to hear, and put her foot in her mouth,

That's a very real possibility but one that I don't see happeneing. I believe that the majority of her opinions fit right in with a wide range of the demographics they are targeting.

While Alaska may be mainly Republican and Palin may not have the experience of standing up against left-wingers, she DOES have experience of standing up against her own party which is far more risky and difficult.

I have a feeling that she will not only be able to stand her own against Biden, but that she will easily expose him for being the typical old school Politician that Obama's campaign is saying they are fighting against.

Jemison

Palin's potential for attacking Biden is a valid point, but let's not forget that Biden was taken primarily to attack McCain. So a Mexican Standoff dynamic of Palin attacking Biden who is in turn attacking McCain who is in turn attacking Obama is to be expected, which could potentially give Obama the opportunity to be seen as the only guy homing in on the issues in a positive way.
It also puts Palin in a position of attacking one mainstream politician while defending another, which could paint her as just another partisan, despite what her previous record might suggest to the contrary.
Biden ends up looking like the pot calling the kettle black if Palin does her job right.
And that brings us back to pretty much campaign politics as usual, and the question is does Obama jump into that as well, or does he walk the tightrope of trying to stay above the fray without evading questions about it or without seeming to be on a different page from (or even unsupportive of) his running mate.

Biden ends up looking like the pot calling the kettle black if Palin does her job right.

And that is exactly what I predict will happen! I think Palin will be able to pull this off easily.

And that brings us back to pretty much campaign politics as usual, and the question is does Obama jump into that as well, or does he walk the tightrope of trying to stay above the fray without evading questions about it or without seeming to be on a different page from (or even unsupportive of) his running mate.

I have a feeling that Obama will be put in a situation where he HAS to jump into it. And IMHO, that would be the best thing that could happen during this election. He is not above dirty politics, he practiced them in Chicago when he first ran for State senate, and I think it's important for people to see that for all of the talk of 'change' and a 'new kind of politics', if that is really what people yearn for, Obama is NOT the man that can bring that to them.

Jemison