Heather Armstrong at Dooce posted a clip on her website yesterday of Sarah Palin talking to Katie Couric about her foreign policy credentials. Palin’s main point seems to be that since she is sandwiched between Alaska and Canada, she is used to dealing with other countries, even though she hasn’t ever actually had official dealings with the federal governments of either country. Heather, a Democrat, asked any Palin supporters out there who were willing to comment to come forward and talk about why they’d consider voting for such a woman.
I’ve read a couple hundred comments so far, and there hasn’t been much Palin support.
What there has been, however, is dozens and dozens of thoughtless, insulting, and borderline crazy comments from so-called Democrats. I’m not American, so I’m not there, I’m not in it, and maybe I don’t have the same passion as these people. It seems to me, however, that the Democrats in America are never going to succeed because their party is full of idiots on the internet who do not know how to engage in debate such that they aren’t acting like elitist snobs who have no respect for other points of view.
There are many people on Heather’s blog with smart, interesting things to say. But there are even more who say things like, “Palin is the antichrist” or “I just ralphed a little in my mouth listening to this clip” and “if McCaine [sic] and Palin are elected, I’m moving to Canada.” These statements are not helpful. These statements are not going to convince undecided voters to come on over to your side. Instead, they just make the Democrats seem like the cool kids’ table at junior high — uncool Republicans will be sneered at as they walk by.
Sure, Heather Armstrong is really smart and cool and famous, and we all want to impress her by agreeing with her completely — even slavishly — in her comments. And I suppose the blog of a stated Democrat isn’t exactly the place to find Republican points of view. But seeing as how Heather specifically asked for conservative thoughts and ideas, you would think that her readers could pull it together enough to make the comments on that post, at least, welcoming to other points of view. Instead, most of them just confirmed the Republican idea that Democrats are more interested in being in the popular kids’ club, than interested in talking about policies and platforms.
Up here in Canada, we’re having a general election, too. I’m an undecided voter. I don’t want to hear anyone — candidates or their supporters — tell me non-useful things like, “He’s stupid and scary, and if you can’t see that, you’re an idiot.” There’s a lot of that kind of fear-mongering and mud-slinging going on, which is completely unhelpful to me. I want to know why the other party isn’t good for Canada. I want your reasons to be thoughtful and well-stated and true. I don’t want name-calling and a lot of back-patting about how your supporters are so much smarter than everyone else.
The Republicans don’t seem to have as big of an internet presence as the Democrats — at least among the websites I read — but the few things I have read from the conservative point of view are well phrased attacks on Obama. They aren’t always true, they aren’t always logical, but they do try to make a point, a point that will give voters something to think about, something to believe. So many of the anti-McCain and (especially) anti-Palin commentary is just a matter of making fun of them, as if their failings are so incredibly obvious that anyone who can’t see it is a dolt. That may be true, but it’s not productive to the process to act like your opinion is the only one that matters.
If you’re an Obama supporter and you want to sway some of those Republican votes, it’s time to start stepping up with some strong, effective arguments. Sure, show me a clip of Palin saying that proximity to Russia gives her foreign policy experience — but don’t just play it for comedy. Take it seriously. Tell me how McCain’s age and health issues mean that this woman might actually be in a room with representatives from the Middle East one day, with no experience on how to handle them. Tell me how in times of war or crises like 9/11, she’ll be completely reliant on advisors that we do not know the names of and haven’t elected. Tell me how just because Palin reminds you of your daughter or sister or librarian or next-door-neighbour does not qualify her for one of the most important jobs in the country. Tell me that it’s critical that the guy in charge be smart and experienced. Tell me that being a well-spoken college graduate does not mean that you are out-of-touch with the wants and needs of everyday Americans.
The race is close, Democrats — this is your chance to really make a difference. Don’t be stupid. Don’t blow it.
TurtleHead 
I read a lot of political blogs–some American, but mainly Canadian–and I have to say this kind of behavior comes from people of all political stripes. There are some blogs that I really enjoy, but I have learned never ever to read the comments sections because I know all I’m going to see is mud-slinging back and forth. I find the level of discourse between readers to be better-than-average on the Macleans blogs, though even there the commenters occasionally get childish.
I’m a decided voter. I’ve really focused my decision on the policies of the party, not the leaders. Frankly, I’m not so enamored of any of the leaders (even for the party I plan to vote for), so I’ve kind of taken that out of the equation. So I look at which one of them has policies that would be leading the country into a direction that I approve of. I look at which party seems to value the things that I value.
Oh, and yeah…I saw Heather’s post and I didn’t even go look at the comments ’cause I was pretty sure they would be exactly what you’ve described. Sigh.
More than anything, I think this is a comment on the quality of blog comments in general. The web gives everyone an equal voice, which is good in general, but like TV, and in fact like the rest of the web, 95% of what you read in blog comments is worthless crap, and the best strategy in my mind is to learn to filter out the crap as automatically as possible. I can’t count the number of publicly-commentable blog posts I’ve read where the comments are full of the lunatic ravings of complete idiots, no matter what the topic.
Maybe you’re not hearing anything about platforms and issues and stuff because no one knows anything about them. I sure don’t know what the hell is going on in our election except that one side keeps calling the other incompetent and risky and that we’d be insane to vote for him and the other side says the other guy is a demon and a liar. I hear the same tired old promises, but nothing new or well thought out or believable. I don’t know if they’ve turned elections into a sideshow to rev up people so they’ll actually come out to vote or if voter turn-out is so poor because elections are nothing but a side-show
I think I’ve been spoiled by the quality of comments on other blogs I read. In general the personal blogs I read, especially politically-minded or issue-oriented ones like Zoom’s and XUP’s, have commenters that are intelligent, informed, and say interesting things. I need to get out more on the internet!
And XUP, I totally agree with you about this election. Where are the platforms? No one seems interested in anything except saying the other guy is stupid and scary, with no details behind that. I’m sure the debates next week will be more of the same.
During the Clinton/Obama race I checked out Hillary Clinton’s website and she had page after page of policy details, concrete ideas for programs, information on how each program would help America, and most importantly, a fully-thought-out way to PAY for each one of her ideas. I want our leaders to produce something just like that.
The NDP and the Liberals both released their party platforms earlier this week. Both parties have PDFs of their platforms posted on their main websites. I believe the Conservatives release their platform tomorrow. Haven’t had a chance to really delve into the ones that have been released so far, but I’ve glanced through both.
To me, part of the problem is that the media seems to be in an endless search for the best soundbite. Policies often can’t be explained adequately in a 10-second clip, but a quick quip slagging one of the other parties fits nicely into that timeslot. Not that it’s all the media’s fault…that’s just one aspect.
Mary Lynn — thanks for the info. I’ve been to the parties’ websites for a quick look but I’ll have more time to read the platforms next week. If you hear of any good sites comparing or discussing their ideas, be sure to blog about it! I’ll check out the MacLeans site too for more info.
This morning on CBC Radio I heard a segment talking about how all the “he sucks” type comments in the press are getting a lot of negative backlash (at the candidates, not at the press who are reporting it). I agree with you, though — that’s what the press wants, so that’s what the candidates give. It’s a circular thing.
Hi Lynn…I don’t know what area of Ottawa you’re in but if you’e interested Kady O’Malley at Macleans did a live blog of the Ottawa Centre all-candidates debate last night. It’s pretty interesting reading. She’s planning on live blogging the all-candidates debates for a bunch of the Ottawa-area ridings.