News Is Sarah Palin's Palm the Key to Her Speech Success?

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The discussion centers around a video featuring Sarah Palin, where she is seen using notes written on her hand during a speech. This has sparked humor and criticism, particularly regarding her political acumen and consistency. The conversation highlights her tendency to appeal to populist sentiments, drawing parallels to figures like "Joe the Plumber." Critics express concern over her potential candidacy for the GOP nomination, fearing it could alienate mainstream Republicans and possibly lead to a third-party run that might benefit Democrats. The term "tea-baggers" is debated, with some arguing it undermines the movement's seriousness. The dialogue also touches on the use of teleprompters by politicians, with comparisons made between Palin and Obama, emphasizing the expectations of political competence. Overall, the thread reflects a mix of humor, political critique, and concerns about the implications of Palin's actions on her political future and the GOP's image.
  • #51
WhoWee said:
Again, why does Obama need a teleprompter to address a 6th grade classroom? How does that make you feel - I doubt BOTH of them based upon the info available.
Obviously a president wouldn't spend time memorizing things he'd want to mention one time only to a group of 6th graders. I'm sure his press people make sure he has a teleprompter at all of his public gatherings, makes sense. Now if he used a teleprompter meeting with heads of state, or in a one on one interview, that would be another issue.
 
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  • #52
Evo said:
A tele-prompter is acceptable, also notes,
Acceptable? To who? The political police?

scribbling on your hand to pretend that you don't need a tele-prompter or notes...
Who says she was pretending versus improvising on the fly?
 
  • #53
mheslep said:
Who says she was pretending versus improvising on the fly?
Do you honestly believe that she had her talking points jotted on her hand, so she could answer a random question from the audience? The question was planted, the answer was pre-planned to make her look good, but she couldn't remember the answer without crib notes.

We all remember how badly she stumbled when Katie Couric threw her softball questions. Imagining that woman in the White House is frightening beyond words.
 
  • #54
turbo-1 said:
Do you honestly believe that she had her talking points jotted on her hand, so she could answer a random question from the audience? The question was planted, the answer was pre-planned to make her look good, but she couldn't remember the answer without crib notes.
Non-sequitor.
 
  • #55
mheslep said:
Acceptable? To who? The political police?
Acceptable to the audience, apparently, it's a common practice.

Who says she was pretending versus improvising on the fly?
Because in the video she turns her palm up and stares into it after asked the question and then repeats what's written on her hand. It was hysterical.
 
  • #56
Evo said:
Obviously a president wouldn't spend time memorizing things he'd want to mention one time only to a group of 6th graders. I'm sure his press people make sure he has a teleprompter at all of his public gatherings, makes sense. Now if he used a teleprompter meeting with heads of state, or in a one on one interview, that would be another issue.

I realize he's busy - but couldn't he "wing it" for a classroom of 6th graders?
 
  • #57
WhoWee said:
I realize he's busy - but couldn't he "wing it" for a classroom of 6th graders?

are you comparing Palin and Obama?

:smile:
 
  • #58
WhoWee said:
I realize he's busy - but couldn't he "wing it" for a classroom of 6th graders?
Have you seen the video? The speech was a policy speech for his "Race to the Top" educational program. It's a $1.3 Billion initiative meant to reward educational systems that make innovative changes in their systems that improve student outcomes. He explained the competitive nature of the initiative, and how the grant money wouldn't be handed out just because the state education departments asked for money. The speech was not aimed at 6th graders, but at the general public, through the press. There were students in the classroom, but it surely wasn't a 6th grade classroom they were using. In the video, there are crude cut-out pictures made of construction paper, and along the wall in back of him, there is a book labeled "Our circle book", and another labeled "Alphabet book" It appears that the WH staff grabbed an unused classroom (likely pre-school) to set up the podium and other equipment for the presentation.
 
  • #59
Evo said:
Acceptable to the audience, apparently, it's a common practice.

Because in the video she turns her palm up and stares into it after asked the question and then repeats what's written on her hand. It was hysterical.
I was addressing the issue of preparing notes before the fact - piece of paper or hand - the choice of one or the other doesn't by itself reflect a pose that one doesn't need notes.
 
  • #60
mheslep said:
I was addressing the issue of preparing notes before the fact - piece of paper or hand - the choice of one or the other doesn't by itself reflect a pose that one doesn't need notes.

maybe you don't see the difference between what (and why she had to) was written on her hand, and a speech.
 
  • #61
turbo-1 said:
Have you seen the video? The speech was a policy speech for his "Race to the Top" educational program. It's a $1.3 Billion initiative meant to reward educational systems that make innovative changes in their systems that improve student outcomes. He explained the competitive nature of the initiative, and how the grant money wouldn't be handed out just because the state education departments asked for money. The speech was not aimed at 6th graders, but at the general public, through the press. There were students in the classroom, but it surely wasn't a 6th grade classroom they were using. In the video, there are crude cut-out pictures made of construction paper, and along the wall in back of him, there is a book labeled "Our circle book", and another labeled "Alphabet book" It appears that the WH staff grabbed an unused classroom (likely pre-school) to set up the podium and other equipment for the presentation.

So the speech was just put in a classroom "just cause"? And not a speech to 6th graders. Correct?
 
  • #62
rewebster said:
are you comparing Palin and Obama?

:smile:

Ivan started the comparisons - ask him.
 
  • #63
MotoH said:
So the speech was just put in a classroom "just cause"? And not a speech to 6th graders. Correct?

Are you suggesting the 6th graders were props - much like the soldiers at West Point?
 
  • #64
MotoH said:
So the speech was just put in a classroom "just cause"? And not a speech to 6th graders. Correct?
The classroom was a backdrop for a policy speech about Obama's educational initiative. I'm sure the kids were thrilled, and I'm just as sure that Obama didn't have cheat sheets to answer the kids' questions after the speech.
 
  • #65
turbo-1 said:
The classroom was a backdrop for a policy speech about Obama's educational initiative. I'm sure the kids were thrilled, and I'm just as sure that Obama didn't have cheat sheets to answer the kids' questions after the speech.

If he needed to read the speech from a teleprompter, how can you be so sure he didn't have notes?
 
  • #66
I was just wondering, because it seems like what Obama was talking about, is a bit over the heads of 6th graders.

I would be thrilled to hell too if the President of the United States came to speak at my school. Heck it was awesome when Dick Cheney came to our town!
 
  • #67
WhoWee said:
If he needed to read the speech from a teleprompter, how can you be so sure he didn't have notes?

You really think he would need notes to answer questions like, "What is it like to be the President?" and "What do you have for supper?"
 
  • #68
MotoH said:
You really think he would need notes to answer questions like, "What is it like to be the President?" and "What do you have for supper?"

Are you asking for an opinion?:smile:
 
  • #69
WhoWee said:
If he needed to read the speech from a teleprompter, how can you be so sure he didn't have notes?
What kind of notes? Do you think Obama has to resort to having pre-planned talking points for questions from 6th graders? Maybe his staff planted questions with the kids and Obama is too thick to be able to answer them without help. You Palin fans sure are reaching.

Apparently Palin's handlers didn't bother to explain to her that Obama made a policy speech about a fairly significant educational initiative IN A SCHOOL and that it was not directed at the 6th graders but at educators, politicians, and the general public.
 
  • #70
turbo-1 said:
What kind of notes? Do you think Obama has to resort to having pre-planned talking points for questions from 6th graders? Maybe his staff planted questions with the kids and Obama is too thick to be able to answer them without help. You Palin fans sure are reaching.

Apparently Palin's handlers didn't bother to explain to her that Obama made a policy speech about a fairly significant educational initiative IN A SCHOOL and that it was not directed at the 6th graders but at educators, politicians, and the general public.

So you agree the kids were props?

Again, if he needed a teleprompter to make the speech - how can you be soooo sure he didn't need notes to answer questions about the speech?
 
  • #71
WhoWee said:
If he needed to read the speech from a teleprompter, how can you be so sure he didn't have notes?
Whowee, you have restated the same thing at least a half dozen times, time to move on. Please do not keep reposting the same thing over and over. Once is enough.
 
  • #72
Evo said:
Teleprompters and notes are out in the open and visible, scribbles on the palm of your hand aren't meant to be noticed, nor are they something one would expect an adult would do, especially not one that is trying to make people think they are competant. IIRC, she tried to disparage Obama because he used a teleprompter. Teleprompters and speech notes are fine.

For the record, I believe Palin made a stupid mistake - given the amount of information scribbled on her palm, a simple 3x5 index card would have served her well.

As for Obama's reliance on the teleprompter - I find it curious.
 
  • #73
turbo-1 said:
Apparently Palin's handlers didn't bother to explain to her that Obama made a policy speech about a fairly significant educational initiative IN A SCHOOL and that it was not directed at the 6th graders but at educators, politicians, and the general public.

?:confused:
 
  • #74
WhoWee said:
So you agree the kids were props?

do you think standing in front of the White House is a prop?


What's you're hang up with the word, 'prop'?

is everything that you don't agree with propaganda to you?


"Theatrical property, a portable item used in performances; also applies to film and television productions"

or
"Propaganda, the dissemination of information aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors of people. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prop
 
  • #75
rewebster said:
"Theatrical property, a portable item used in performances; also applies to film and television productions"

If the kids were used as a back drop and he made a speech over their heads - they were "stage props" - is that better?
 
  • #76
WhoWee said:
?:confused:
You shouldn't be puzzled. Palin was the one that made fun of Obama for using a teleprompter to speak to 6th graders. Either she didn't bother looking at the video herself (likely) or her handlers kept her ignorant of the target audience for the speech, so she'd use the "teleprompter to talk to 6th graders" as a low-brow zinger. It seemed to resonate with her target audience, so apparently they believed her claim. I doubt that even now, many of them have bothered to view the video of the policy speech.

http://vodpod.com/watch/2894572-race-to-the-top-for-education-reform
 
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  • #77
WhoWee, if you like, love, whatever, Palin for who she is and how she presents herself--that's your choice...

if you stand up for her, that's your choice, too...
 
  • #78
turbo-1 said:
... I don't know how the teabaggers think, but I want to vote for a candidate that is smarter and better-informed than I am, and smarter and better-informed than the opponent(s).
Yes, those are important qualities to me as well. As are a host of other issues, such as a disinclination to condescend to big groups of my fellow Americans.
 
  • #79
rewebster said:
WhoWee, if you like, love, whatever, Palin for who she is and how she presents herself--that's your choice...

if you stand up for her, that's your choice, too...
That almost sounds like an argumentum ad hominem...
 
  • #80
Hurkyl said:
That almost sounds like an argumentum ad hominem...

if a person defends a very unpopular figure, that person will have to be defending that very unpopular person from a lot of different aspects
 
  • #81
rewebster said:
if a person defends a very unpopular figure, that person will have to be defending that very unpopular person from a lot of different aspects
If the people who are levying criticism feel the need to change the subject, I consider that a successful demonstration that the criticism was without merit.

Speaking of which...
turbo-1 said:
WhoWee said:
If he needed to read the speech from a teleprompter, how can you be so sure he didn't have notes?
What kind of notes? Do you think Obama has to resort to having pre-planned talking points for questions from 6th graders? Maybe his staff planted questions with the kids and Obama is too thick to be able to answer them without help. You Palin fans sure are reaching.

Apparently Palin's handlers didn't bother to explain to her that Obama made a policy speech about a fairly significant educational initiative IN A SCHOOL and that it was not directed at the 6th graders but at educators, politicians, and the general public.
Nicely dodged. :wink:
 
  • #82
Obama addressed the Republicans a few weeks back (there was a thread on it). He answered all their questions without a teleprompter, cameras rolling, live video streaming the whole time...he aced it. Anyone who thinks the guy can't think on his feet should see the video.

What cracks me up is what was actually written on her hand...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00682/palin_2_682445a.jpg

...because there was something there crossed out. Dang it, there's a joke in there somewhere, but I've been studying QM all day and my mind isn't nimble enough right now to catch it...
 
  • #83
Oh and if anyone still has their panties in a bunch about Obama using a teleprompter...you need to see this...and lighten up a bit...

http://www.theonion.com/content/video/obamas_home_teleprompter"

:smile:
 
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  • #84
lisab said:
Obama addressed the Republicans a few weeks back (there was a thread on it). He answered all their questions without a teleprompter, cameras rolling, live video streaming the whole time...he aced it. Anyone who thinks the guy can't think on his feet should see the video.

What cracks me up is what was actually written on her hand...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00682/palin_2_682445a.jpg

...because there was something there crossed out. Dang it, there's a joke in there somewhere, but I've been studying QM all day and my mind isn't nimble enough right now to catch it...


I can make out two of the words:
top "Energy"
third down "lift..."

Looks like motivational phrases to me.
 
  • #85
drankin said:
I can make out two of the words:
top "Energy"
third down "lift..."

Looks like motivational phrases to me.

The third one is "lift America's spirits" I think...I'd have to check but I think she actually used that phrase when being interviewed.
 
  • #86
lisab said:
The third one is "lift America's spirits" I think...I'd have to check but I think she actually used that phrase when being interviewed.
The words are
"Energy, Budget cuts (with "budget" crossed out), Tax, Lift American Spirits")
from the link in the OP.
 
  • #87
Evo said:
from the link in the OP.

Ah thanks :smile: I'm apparently brain dead tonight.
 
  • #88
Huh, I see
EasyOff
bread
tea
lites
asprin
spirits
 
  • #89
Would anyone now like to attempt to "read" her palm?:rolleyes:
 
  • #90
Ivan Seeking said:
Huh, I see
EasyOff
bread
tea
lites
asprin
spirits
Really? :confused:

(I only ask because I can't tell if you're being serious or if you're trying to insult her)
 
  • #91
Hurkyl said:
Really? :confused:

(I only ask because I can't tell if you're being serious or if you're trying to insult her)

Ivan actually likes Palin - especially her "drill baby drill" comment.
 
Last edited:
  • #92
Say Goodnight Gracie..."Goodnight Gracie".
 

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