The Rookie Mistake

The fact is, the PTA, the little league, the neighborhood block watch -- those would all be nonexistent without community organizers.

My first paid job was with an organization that helped pregnant and teenage moms develop life skills -- the kind of program that Governor Palin liked to slash.   I've toiled in the trenches, and still do, albeit from a nonpaid place now.

That mocking, sardonic speech did not resonate.  It was all about dominating and "winning" the news cycle.  I swear, the short-sightedness of the McCain campaign is breath-taking.  They still think they can win through an airwar.

And I have news for them.  It's not 1992.  People have evolved on cultural issues.  And in some way they know it--they put an unwed, soon-to-be teenaged mother up on stage and everyone cheered.  That was a down-the-rabbit hole moment if ever I've seen one.

Man, I am really disappointed we didn't get to meet up in Denver...you are such an inspiration and you are brilliant :)

This is exactly what I couldn't put my finger on, why I am so angry, why now I am more fired up than ever.  She insulted me, and all my new found freedom fighter friends who have been working on the ground for Obama!

Thank you for your clarity, and for sharing such a gift of journalism at it's finest Al.

it was the sneering condescending tone
these people are out of touch, and I am still boiling with rage this morning...hell I had a bad night sleep last night, imaging the horrors this woman could bring if she comes near the WH

I was taken back by the viciousness of her attacks.  With scandalous laundry hanging in the front yard, I thought she'd do something to make people relate to her.  Few Americans are as mean and hate filled as this trash.  Her shrill attacks and stack of scandals will doom McCain.

I was wrong I guess. Jake Tapper links to a panel the Detroit Free Press did: Republicans loved her, Democrats didn't, Indpendents did't like it either. I'm hoping the polls end up reflecting the views of that panel in MI and across the country.

The Detroit Free Press invited a panel of Michigan voters to weigh in on Gov. Sarah Palin's speech last night. Their reactions run the gamut, but the independents didn't seem to care for her very much.

Ilene Beninson, 52, Berkley independent: "Her speech contained few statements about policy or the party platform. … I am not convinced that Palin's experience as a mayor or governor in Alaska meet the qualifications to be vice president much less one stroke or heart attack away from being commander in chief.”

Mike Kosh, 38, West Bloomfield independent: “The way it looks to me, she's the Republican vice presidential nominee for one reason: Because Hillary wasn't selected.”

George Lentz, 66, Southfield independent: “I was completely underwhelmed. She was a Republican novelty act with a sophomoric script. It was not even a speech I would expect for someone running for the local PTA, much less for vice president.”

Diane Murphy, 42, Sterling Heights independent: “It appears that once she makes up her mind, that is the end of it. We live in a gray world, not every answer is black and white.”

Jan Wheelock, 58, Royal Oak independent: “Nothing worked for me. I found her barrage of snide remarks and distortions to be a major turnoff. She is not a class act. The most important point she made is that she will be an effective attack dog.”

- jpt

How does she think she got the right to participate in the political process in the first place? Because people before her ORGANIZED, marched, fought. What an idiot.

holy fucking thundercats, Al, i almost just wept tears of joy for you. i haven't even fully read your top two posts on Palin-palooza, but their existence (and Giordano-licious content) are what is making this election endurable in the toughest moments. (and more fun in the not so tough ones...)

like a fool i stopped at Halperin's lair (yes, he's a douche, but he's a good gateway collection of new stories) and saw that he gave Palin an A+ for last night.

now i know better than to get all Chicken Little, but i immediately realized that i needed to get your take on this first to immunize myself against the tradmed bullshit i know is out there this morning. and no surprise, you came through for us as always.

thanks so much for this site and your work, Al. i get paid tomorrow and am going to send coinage your way. (and i'm still pimping you like a mofo over at Kos every chance i get: http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2008/9/3/225755/0661/116#c116)

Sarah Palin and good old Rudy 9/11 Guiliani can be credited for getting this over-the-hill, ex-professional, pro-choice, anti-machine gun on our streets, soccer mom out of the house and out of her state to register voters in PA.  In fact there is a posse of us who got up this morning and started "organizing" a "carpool" to go down first weekend of Oct.   -- Just after we responded to David Plouffe's plea for another small donation to send them all a little message.  BRING IT ON!

and my schooling and experience definitely delves into community organizing and pushing against the status quo. What her speech and especially the idiotic Guiliani's signified to me was how much in my gut I want to defeat these people because they represent what is so wrong with the direction of this country.

You are right Al, I think she stepped into a minefield and she does not know she is going to be blasted out of the stratosphere by our righteous fight to these right wing tools of destruction.

I guess small-town mayors are like community organizers, except the mayors only need to be in the pocket of big oil and the NRA and get 617 people to vote for them to give them a springboard to the vice presidency of the United States, whereas community organizers have to motivate thousands upon thousands of disaffected people and help them have a voice to stand up to the entrenched interests that would prefer to ship their jobs overseas.

I still feel McCain's selection of Palin was the best move of his entire political life, and that was confirmed last night.  Just as the DNC had the buildup and climax of Hillary's "how will she do???" speech, the RNC was able to fool people into creating exremely low expectations around Palin, such that any performance short of having tomatoes thrown at her would be seen as a home run.  And she seems to give the left as many or more fits than Bush did - or even that Obama gives his opponents.

We simply can't underestimate the ability of the GOP machine to sell whatever they need to sell.  And they will try to do it by making us forget who our current president is.  Palin has done her job by distracting us for the last week, and injecting some sizzle into a moribund campaign.  I truly look forward to seeing how Obama counters tonight and into the next month, but ultimately, our job remains the same - to get. out. the. vote!

Al, No one could have said it better. No.one.

If I weren't so sad about it, I might be happy for all of the reasons you just stated about her pissing off many voters last night. I just think when we put the worst our nation has to offer on stage as a representative of our country, we set ourselves back soooo far in the World's eyes. I'm just so embarrassed that they share this country with us. I'm even more grateful for Barack after last night-which I didn't think was possible. I'm Fired Up and Ready To Go!

"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities."

There is another difference between the two:

A community organizer takes responsibility, while small-town mayor Palin apparently failed in taking responsibilities that she had.

@Carpediva: glad I'm not the only PR fan among the FieldHands!

But seriously, folks. This was really exactly what the Obama campaign must have been hoping for.  Who are the people most indignant about Gov. Palin's speech? The very folks who make the phone calls, knock on the doors, register the voters, and collect the money that's going to make this election a blowout. How tone-deaf.

Also, @Rhoda: wow, just wow. That group sure is evidence that Nate's point is right on the money. Who is Gov. Palin to make jokes about a serious presidential candidate? Heck, who is Gov. Palin, period?!

So, Al, now that she's put her trademark go-go boot in her mouth, can we start pushing sexist, offensive internet rumors again? JUST KIDDING!

I couldn't believe that she belittled community organizing.  I donated to Obama after I received Plouffe's email.  Thanks Sarah!  I will be working twice as hard for our candidate.

Regarding the response of people like Halperin.  I think what you've gotta chalk it up to is a desire on the part of the press for this to be an exciting "horserace" again and for each minute of the day to be presented as a monumental "turning point, grand slam, game-changer."  They've got TV shows, newspapers, and websites to sell, so they'll throw whatever flammable substance is handy on the warm coals of the McCain campaign.

I think it's important for all of us, as Al might put it, to keep our eye on the ball and take the long view here.  We know what it will take to have an electoral victory this fall...and many of us are working hard at it already.  It seems to me that the "enthusiasm gap" Halperin's blathering on about today is more about the press than voters.  It's about the media trying to gin up enough energy to cover the race as a dead heat.  McCain was not providing that energy at all.  Palin is new, telegenic, and has an interesting (in both good and bad ways) biography--of course the media want, in their schizophrenic way, both to build her up and knock her down simultaneously.  That's what they do with all (gasp!) celebrities when they enter the public eye. We'll see all her adequacies trumpeted as triumphs and all her flaws fretted on as mortal sins...but in the end our best hope lies in the notion that truth will out and that the hard work of everyday people like us will matter more than what the media blowhards say (even on those rare occasions when they are saying things we like).

Seems the speeches yesterday provided a clear distinction between the Dem and Repub mindsets:

Dems: People-powered government.

Repubs: People-soured government.

It's nice to have the difference become so stark.

I was catching a drink with another Denver Field Hand last night during the Rudy Giuliani speech, and although I couldn't articulate it at the time, there was something about Giuliani's swipe at community organizers that really got under my skin. (I guess I missed the Palin moment,)

Really, when Giuliani uttered the words “community organizer” last night he looked as if he was talking about a varmint of some sort that needed to be shot. Then came the comment about how Obama never “lead” anything, because “community organizing” isn't a real job.

It was as if he was saying to every voter: you're a fool to believe that you can change things with Obama, you're a fool to support someone so inexperienced...someone so different...you're a fool and listen to me.

Upon reflection, I think what really irked me was the fact that Giuliani was essentially talking down to his audience.

It's a given that he already alienated any youth voters with all the unfunny cynicism, but I don't think anyone in this country likes to be talked to and scolded like child. His speech really insulted the intelligence of his audience, and that's a big mistake.

I'm glad to see some similar interpretations at The Field this morning.

Don't over look the fact that, to lots of suburban and exurban voters, "community organizer" conjures up only one image:  Al Sharpton.

Of course Obama can't go after it as such, and Plouffe's rejoinder is just right, but you know since both Rudy and Palin said it, it came from on high, and it's definitely a racist dogwhistle. 

Oh, and don't forget:  George H.W. Bush's "A Thousand Points of Light"?  Community organizations...

Translation: I got elected and therefore I am better than all of you!

I grew up in a small town and what I see in Sarah Palin is a serious case of "big fish, small pond" syndrome.  She comes across as the kind of person who starts with the feeling that she's better than everyone else in her small community, and then uses that belief as justification to scratch and claw her way to a position of authority, where she can wield her power to harm anyone who doesn't accept her superior image of herself.

Unfortunately for her, she's in the big pond now!

Let's see, our opponent has organized a community of 2,500,000+ to donate, register voters, canvas, and GOTV.  How do we defeat him?  I've got it!  Let's mock their community organizing!  That'll teach that 2,500,000 a lesson!

Now, let's all show them in November what an organized community can really accomplish!

"I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a ‘community organizer,' except that you have actual responsibilities."

Ordinary people like myself try to take our responsibilities seriously.  This statement cheapens that, IMO.

The McCain camp seems thrilled, just out right thrilled by the Palinmania. But, one of the truisms that has been repeated over and over is that you don't want your #2 a bigger star than your #1. I think this is happening. It may not get there completely, but I think it's close. I believe this is one of those unintended consequences when you're following whims and distractions and chasing media cycles, not following a disciplined plan.

The danger for Camp McCain is that the balance of power is off. All of a sudden, the P nominee needs the VP more than vice-versa.

I guess it'll remain to be seen how this plays out, but I'm just wondering what this means for the election when it becomes Palin v Obama not McCain v Obama. And can anyone help me think of when there was a similar dynamic?

When Reagan put Bush I on the ticket, it was to mollify part of the base, but he was clearly the star.

Well, now that practically every major media outlet has sung the praises of Palin's epic speech last night, I guess the McCain camp's war against the media is off, right Al?

Joe Biden on the Today Show today:

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/04/biden-on-palin-whoa/

How refreshing.

The kids had their time to jump on the bed before bedtime last night.  Now that they've used up their energy, the adults can tuck them in.  Sweet dreams children!

But I never called myself a "hockey mom." I'm more of a track and field mom. I know this isn't true of all hockey mom's, but I reserved that term for the more belligerent mothers who screamed at the refs, at the other teams and sometimes swore even at the players. I found the "hockey moms" on our teams to be rather embarrassing and kind of scary. Sarah Palin definitely fits in with my definition of a hockey mom. I donated to the Obama campaign this morning. And now I'm going to find something to organize in my community.

Al, I think Biden's response was spot-on--he takes on the media for some of the 'sexist' view-points, and he also re-emphasizes that 'family is off limits'.

This is chess, not checkers--and the Obama camp gets it.

Palin/McLame are imploding, and the Obama campaign doesn't want to be associated with some of the impolitic comments that are coming from the corporate media.  Smart.

In their shrivelled, oligarch-loving hearts, the Republican rightwing really, really hates community organizers--and this must be why they thought condemning Obama's involvement with urban communities was fair game.

The contradiction is ripe: the we are 'reformers', but we don't like community organizers is just too huge to make sense.

OT: Sinful Cindy McLame proclaims that, unlike Sarah Palin, she supports abortion in cases of incest and rape.  Thank you Sinful Cindy for pointing toward Palin's extremism.  Sinful Cindy also thinks that including other types of sex education with an 'abstinence' focus is also acceptable.

Cindy, unfortunately, you are not the one being nominated as VP--so what you say does more to point up the excesses of this ticket than it does to salve our discomfort.

I can almost hear the freaking out from the bottom rung diarists at Kos "why isn't he fighting back! Wah Wah!" but I love his response. He's basically telling the Republicans "ok, you say she's ready to be in the deep end of the pool, we'll treat her that way".

Starting to raise expectations of her for the debate was especially good.

The only example in recent memory I can think of where a VP candidate outshone the presidential candidate was Bentsen and Dukakis.  But I find it hard to draw any parallels with this situation.  Bentsen outshone because he was the one with the experience who was considered tough, while Dukakis came across as very, very bland.  In many ways, this McCain/Palin pairing is completely unprecedented.

that pork barrel sarah can proclaim herself a fighter for special needs children when she cut special ed by 62% as gov.

New diary up on kos....the community organizer comment got us a convert!  I wonder how many more are out there?

Daily Kos: A Palin convert

is it not true that helping unwed teenaged mothers who do not have health insurance and a home get shelter and medical care among the many many things that Community Organizers do?

Why do Republicans think that is a bad thing?

Jesus hates the hypocrit most of all.

I wasted some time this AM waiting for the coffee and cigarette to kick in reading comments on HuffPo and other sites to see the reactions.

Guess what I picked up from women? And I -- just a thot -- think this perception might grow. Allow me to paraphrase from a bunch of posts as if it were one comment, when it definitely was not, OK?

"This is the kind of woman who comes into your office, befriends you, then screws the boss, then screws you. She's a snake. She's no friend of women, she'll walk over your backside in high heels to get what she wants. This is just the kind of woman other women have to watch out for, and never do before it's too late."

I saw Sarah Palin referred to as a snake twice within ten minutes on two different threads. The interesting thing to me is that the perceptions about her as a woman were parenthetical to the commenter's point. Sort of a throw-away.

This will be an interesting development to watch. Every woman over the age of 40 in America has known a woman like this -- the snake who gets you when you're not looking -- and has a tale to tell, whether they admit it or not. This sort of woman was the dark secret, and hidden motivator, of the 60s/70s feminist movement, and led to the sexual harassment laws.

Thanks for the great post! 

And thanks to the commenter who reminded us of the 617 votes Palin won in the mayoral election. I'd like to see a tabulation comparing her lifetime vote totals with Obama's.

Thanks for your voice, Al. I've been reading all year and really appreciate your insight and journalism. BTW I'm an organic farmer in rural Dixie and even here I can tell you there's change in the air.

Just wanted to note that I saw Mornin Joe and co. fawn all over last night's charade, and then Brokaw and Barnicle mentioned Tim Russert. Would he hypnotized like this? The GOP just put someone on the ticket who hasn't yet, as far as I know, faced any journalist since her open vetting began, and there are more than a couple questions to be asked. I know it's just the TV heads, but when even Brokaw is staring at the lipstick and not seeing the pit bull, I wonder what Tim Russert would say.

"You can take your 'unity' and shove it up your ass."

A snapshot of The Republican Party.

(this is an actual, unedited image from last night)

Roger Simon of Politico... "On behalf of the elite media, I would like to say we are very sorry. We have asked questions this week that we should never have asked. We have asked pathetic questions like: Who is Sarah Palin? What is her record? Where does she stand on the issues? And is she is qualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency? We have asked mean questions like: How well did John McCain know her before he selected her? How well did his campaign vet her? And was she his first choice? Bad questions. Bad media. Bad." http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13143.html

In an email just a couple of minutes ago, I asked him why he had put himself through the torture of watching Palin's speech last night, and he responded:

"Well I had misplaced hopes that she really was a maverick and would take on the establishment and show me something new. She didn't."

This from Barry Crimmins, highlighted in your post, is genius and made me laugh out loud:

"This attack was first unveiled by crooked cross-dresser Rudy Giuliani, who asked if anyone even knew what a community organizer does. Of course he knows exactly what a community organizer does - - a community organizer makes life miserable for racist, fascist mayors like Giuliani."

Spot. On.

I see lots of mentions of donations and volunteer commitments all over the internets this morning - awesome!  I signed up a few weeks ago to go to Georgia in early October but this morning I signed up to go to Michigan two weekends this month.  My standard monthly donation is already in. 

Let's go folks - we got the Best Closer in the game and with us helping him out we can make sure he closes out this last inning on top!

p.s.  Hi Cheryl in NJ!  I couldn't sign back in last night but I read your hello this morning.  Great to read your comments as always.

Biden didn't bother with Huckabee's lie that Palin got more votes when she ran for mayor, than he did when he ran for President. Instead, he graciously gave recognition to Barack for having pulled him, out of oblivion, in making him his Vice Presidential running mate.

Here's what's dead wrong about the attack on community organizing: it's a betrayal of the only heart the GOP has, Reagan's call for people to help themselves rather than rely on government hand-outs. "Government is the problem," he declared at his inaugural address in 1981; "All of us together, in and out of government, must bear the burden."

Community organizers have been bearing that burden.

Anne @12:48 pm - Can you expand your comment for those of us who didn't see the show? Are you saying that the comment was good or bad, and why did you feel that way?

Inventor--the rightwing hates community organizers, and an organized community.  They support undemocratic, plutocratic power--always have.

My guess is that the rightwing want to attack Obama for his community organizer past, to depict him as a 'radical', a malcontent, a rabble rouser (of 'those blacks'), etc.

Demeaning Obama as a community organizer is 'bait'--and they will pummel him with associating with a terrorist--Aires--when he rebutts the charges.

I don't think that Obama will take the 'bait'--but he will emphasize what community organizers do.

Anytime a community becomes organized, the plutocrats lose.

Let's effen organize people!

OT: on another note, there has to be indigenous people in Alaska that don't like the idea of a McLame/Palin ticket, that don't like the fact that Palin wanted to prohibit catagorizing the polar bear as 'endangered'.  They would make a nice counter point to illustrate Palin's extremism.

Sarah Palin frees McCain to finally go after independent voters. She is who the Republicans wish they had in the primaries. Remember how they just couldn't get rallied around anyone? She will hold them in line and even get them enthusiastic while McCain repudiates Bush and the Republican Party, while he says everything that swing voters were hoping to hear from him.

Independent voters will be a bit disappointed by his choice of her, see it as a political tactic gone wrong and move on. Palin will no more turn them off of McCain than Quayle hurt Bush Sr.

Attack McCain, attack the wrongness of the issues and statements (like Al's doing), attack the lies. Attacking Palin won't help in the long term and may even help with her job of mobilizing the GOP machine.

McCain will shift to the center either tonight or within the next week. If he is allowed to get away with it, this becomes a tight race. By CH's analogy on the last post, this election can either be Reagan vs. Carter in 1980 where the swing voters break late to Obama, or it can be a 2000 nail-biter.

It's time to stop taking a baseball bat to the lizard's brightly colored severed tail, and time to take a scalpel to the heart of the beast, camouflaged though it may be. Palin is the distraction.

It would be great if he would give a speech devoted solely to the topic of community organizing, letting people know exactly how far their work reaches into people's lives and amplifying the central premise that this is the only way that people have to confront the powers that be, and to take responsibility for themselves (e.g. neighborhood watches). A speech that wouldn't have been necessary before is now a great opportunity, another teachable moment.

I think what this attack on community organizers revealed is the  disdain the established Republican elites have for those who dare to challenge their authority.  The attack seemed less like a calculated political move than a sincere assault on something that the Republicans abhor.  The last thing they want is the poor and downtrodden attacking their authority.  This was a "let them eat cake" moment.  I'm just shocked that Bush's speechwriters and McCain's campaign are so completely and utterly tone deaf.

I hope he turns her into chopped liver when they have this debate.

Billmon argues that "community organizer" is a right-wing dogwhistle for "poverty pimp". Basically it's the inner-city race card. Mixed with the radical card.

Can someone with Lexis-Nexis access do a search on "Guiliani" and "community organizer"? Wouldn't he have worked with these people as mayor of NYC?