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Journalism of Courage
The Republican nominee Senator John McCain8217;s choice of Sarah Palin, the little-known governor of far-away Alaska, as his vice presidential running mate, has sent shock waves all around. Some pundits see it as a brilliant 8216;game-changer8217; for McCain. Others call it a 8216;political suicide8217; since it undercuts the most credible Republican argument against Obama 8212; lack of experience.
Supporters say McCain8217;s chances of winning this election by sticking to conventional wisdom are next to nil. At a time when the Republican party is hugely unpopular and a charismatic Obama has bestirred the nation, McCain had to do find a way to shake things up. Besides the value of surprise, Palin offered McCain a badly needed political bridge to the conservative base of the Republican party. Throughout his political career, the independent-minded McCain has had difficulty with conservatives. In his 2000 run against George W. Bush it was the Christian right that quickly derailed his candidacy.
Family values
Barely two days after Palin was presented to the public, the news that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant opened a new line of attack against the Republican campaign. Obama, on his part, was quick to say that family matters should be off-limits during the campaign. Obama also pointed out that his own mother was only 18 when she gave birth to him.
Obama8217;s dignity is unlikely to rub off on the media, as it begins to invest big in the Palin story. In a country where there is no line between the personal and the political, Palin will have to survive some hostile scrutiny. The liberal partisans would not let go of the opportunity to debunk the Republican projection of Palin as an epitome of American 8216;family values8217;.
Unlike in Europe and Asia, 8216;family values8217; remain an enduring locus of America8217;s culture wars. While the liberal life style of America8217;s coastal cities is not very different from that of other modern societies, opposition to abortion, pre-marital sex, and gay rights, are deeply held values in the US heartland. This pits the conservatives in an unending war with the liberals.
The McCain campaign says it was aware of the out of wedlock pregnancy of Palin8217;s teenage daughter when it decided on her as the running mate. It is confident that the story will reinforce her image as an upholder of family values. Palin herself had refused to abort a child with Down8217;s syndrome. The Republicans also hope that Palin8217;s support for her daughter8217;s decision to have the child, rather than abort it, and marry its father would be seen as an honest attempt at coping with a dilemma that most American families could face. What we don8217;t know at this stage is whether there is more to Palin that might be dug out in the coming days to the discomfort of the Republican campaign.
Political turnover
Beyond the personal, the Palin candidacy underlines a unique feature of American politics, where relative unknowns constantly show up at the top of the political heap. It is impossible to conceive of a Palin-like candidacy in the European democracies. Obama, too, was an obscure figure until recently. When he won the Democratic nomination and the presidency in 1992, Bill Clinton was the governor of a small state of Arkansas in the South with no 8216;national experience8217;.
Thanks to the strong party system in Europe, national leaders emerge as young politicians steadily work their way up. But the United States is a large, diverse and federal democracy, that offers multiple channels for political mobility. These include the very dynamic local and state-level politics and the primary system that allows fresh faces to challenge the incumbents in their own parties.
There is also the pressure on presidential candidates to build effective social and political coalitions across the nation. A powerful media and a flourishing industry of political consultants also make it easier for outsiders to become insiders. It is the rapid turnover in the political leadership that makes the American democracy so very different and unpredictable.
The writer is a Professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore iscrmohanntu.edu.sg
