Letter from an Independent
Greg got this letter after the debate, and suggested I share it. Since I'm doing it only on his permission, the author is not being attributed. A small amount of spelling correction has also been done.
There are some good points in there. However, this is just the VP's we are talking about here.Additionally, below is my observation of last night's VP debate. It is not my only observation but it is one that illustrates the ability of the Republicans to "mainline" into the American psyche, something that continues to elude the Democrats. This failure perplexes me. I am a registered Independent as is my husband. We are the people from whom your party seeks votes.
Observation:
Please tell the honorable Senator Biden that he needs a 2nd change of his "intellectual" precepts. He stated in the debate that his "1st change" was his perception that ideology of judicial nominees for the Supreme Court does matter which I support this stance. The 2nd change Biden better recognize he needs to make now IS TO BE SUSPICIOUS OF SOMEONE'S MOTIVES as demonstrated by the "first name" request from Palin. There has been innumerable Media mentions of how friendly Sarah Palin was when the 2 of them first walked onto the debate stage. She asked Senator Biden if she could call him by his first name Joe. On camera. Loudly. And she said it very quickly in a tone uncharacteristic of the Palin pitch and immediately disengaged herself from him, never even acknowledging the Moderator, turned toward her podium & left him out there. Palin was now on target by obtaining his permission to call him by his first name. Watch the encounter again.
She baited him as her handlers instructed her to in order to accomplish her first goal. Biden thought nothing of this request? And then he said yes!?! Biden could have just gracefully ignored her request by saying "It's so finally nice to meet you, Governor Palin and I am looking forward to this debate" all the while flashing his smile, turning and walking to his podium. She would have been thrown off her rehearsed strategy. However, she obtained ownership of his name. It's Negotiation Rule #1: Never give your adversary ownership of your name. First name basis? Never. Never. Never. Never. And with Biden's permission, she would later in the debate employ the quip of "Say it ain't so, Joe" and get away with it. What a primal zinger she has achieved for the Republicans with that one sound bite, that one liner. That was her motive.
Furthermore, who did mike them? And on their person? How did live mikes happen before they reached their podiums? Doesn't someone set rules by which the candidates are to refer to each other before hand? How did this exchange happen ON STAGE & ON MIKE?
Obama wasn't successful with this "first name" tactic as Obama inadvertently associated success or deference to McCain by saying "John, you are correct" or "John, I agree with you" and you know the rest of that story. Now, the Republicans have doubled back with this tactic and used it to diminish the stature of Senator Biden under the Palin guise of "friendly". The Republicans were able to double back on the gender angle, too, with this "first name" ploy, using it to their advantage. Think on that for awhile.
Tell the Obama team to wake up to these primal nuances or they will lose the election and tell Senator Biden to be suspect of motives, all motives,
especially your opponent's.
I apologize for the length of this email. Thank you for your forbearance in
reading it.
XXX XXXX
BTW: For what it's worth, David Letterman just agreed with me on her motive.
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