National Review's Daniel Foster has noticed:
Palin is increasingly cutting her vinegar with honey, showcasing a self-awareness, a light-heartedness, and an ability to poke fun at herself that could potentially turn into some of her most powerful weapons.As Doug Gamble wrote in National Review six years ago, Ronald Reagan understood how to use humor in to advance his agenda, disarm his political opponents and connect with the American people. JFK also used humor to great benefit, but his sense of humor was somewhat different from Reagan's. Kennedy's use of humor had a special appeal to intellectuals and the White House press corps, while Reagan's use of humor, much like that of Will Rogers, was intended more for the common man.
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As Palin matures into a force in the conservative movement, she would do well to show America more of this side of her. She must learn that not taking oneself too seriously does not make one unserious (unless, of course, you’re Michael Steele). In the process, she can gain something that both the lazy media caricatures of her and her incessant counterattacks lack: a third dimension.
As a student of Reagan, Sarah Palin has learned some important lessons from the great man. From her embrace of "first principles" to taking her message directly to the American people and thereby thwarting a hostile press, she has learned her Reagan lessons well. Her use of humor is one skill which has required more time to hone than the others Reagan possessed, because humor is a double-edged sword. It requires just the right combination of timing, self-depreciation and other factors to pull it off. A politician can have writers who furnish them with great material, but if not delivered properly, they fail to pull it off. When lampooning a political opponent, being too gentle with them is ineffective, while getting too harsh leaves the politician looking mean-spirited. It's a delicate balancing act, but Gov. Palin seems to be mastering it.
She has a natural talent for humor which has been noted by writers, comics and critics alike following her appearances at banquets and on late night television shows. While Sarah Palin has an inner confidence on a par with that of Reagan, his easy-going manner has been more difficult for her to emulate. Her natural tendency is to move along at a very brisk pace and deliver her points in machine-gun fashion. This is typical of a speaker who is aware of his or her time constraints and wants to make sure that no rhetorical stone in the script is left unturned. But she is working hard to discipline herself to relax more, give her points a chance to sink in deep within the consciousness of her audience and not to step on her applause lines. This is essential to the delivery of humorous material perhaps more so than any other, and Gov. Palin has made great strides in this regard while she continues to refine the techniques.
All this tracks back to what her supporters know about Sarah Palin and what her parents have taught her all of her life. She can accomplish anything she sets her sights on. And if she sets her sights on being the first of her gender to become president of this great land, we have no doubts that she will accomplish it.
- JP
This is another component in the continuing evolution of Sarah Palin.
ReplyDeleteI wrote on one my blogs after the election when people were criticizing Palin for not being intellectually deep or taking herself too seriously, I pointed out that if you look at the Palin that ran for VP in 2008 honestly, you wouldn't see an idiot or someone that was too intense about herself.
What you did see is a woman plucked from Alaska who all in the matter of 57 days fired up the base and encaptured the hearts of Republicans even though she had her Katie Couric moment and hit a couple of rough patches along the campaign trail.
I argued then: despite the issues the liberal media had with her, look at how good she is. Look at how the people in the crowd in Minneapolis looked at her, with that Reagan glaze in their eyes. Look at how she kicked Joe Biden's ass in the debate. I said the media was trying to use her stumbles on foreign policy questions and her Katie Couric appearance to create a negative snap shot in time of her.
I said then and I say it now. She is not a snapshot in time. She is an evolving candidate. And I also told people then "if you think she's big now, wait until 2012. She'll be a behemoth by then."
So far I think I'm right. Your article backs me up as well. Great job, Josh!