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There was something jarring about GOP candidate Sarah Palin's appearance at the vice presidential debate, and it was not just her refusal to answer questions, or the mock Reagan-esque mannerisms of the "there you go again" kind. Nor was it the misrepresentations, like her campaign's mendacious insistence that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama would raise taxes on those earning $42,000 a year.It was that come hither wink. Twice. It was the lowered voice.It was the seduction of speaking directly to the camera audience, as if there was no one else in each living room of America, as if it were just her and the - presumably male or complicit female- viewer, while ignoring the debate questions, Joe Biden, Gwen Ifill, and everything else. Her less than subtle message was "you want me," and not in a charismatic political leader, vote-for-me sort of way. She was delivering a direct come-on to the audience.When candidate Ronald Reagan winked at the audience, it was to let you in on the joke that he really knew you, the worried white vote. He could give the first major address of a presidential campaign in Philadelphia, Miss., where three civil-rights workers were murdered in one of the ugliest 1960s incidents of racial violence, and the message was elect Ronnie and he'll resist black advances for equality in American society.With Palin, the wink had quite a different connotation. That wink is at the heart of her campaign. The wink is all about sex, which is what made it all the more jarring in the context of the national debate. It was the wink of a bikini-clad model selling a car and a dodgy bill of goods. It was the wink of a temptress offering a promise that will never be kept. It was the wink of the all-American cheerleader knowing why every male, and not a few females, are interested in her short skirt, and determined to milk it for all it's worth. Perhaps the reader feels we are going out on a limb here. Perhaps you feel it is merely our febrile imaginations. But bear with us for a moment. Think of the short-skirted photos of Palin, think of the doctored picture of Palin in an American flag bikini holding a gun that is ubiquitous on the Internet. While an urban legend, it rang true. Try to imagine Hillary Rodham Clinton or Geraldine Ferraro or almost any other female politico in a bikini with a gun. Would the image be anything else but ludicrous?A friend returning from Florida told of asking some men, incredulously, how they could vote for Palin. "Because she's hot," was one response. Men can be so predictable.In a world of impressive female leaders, whose toughness, smarts and determination have shaped history and severely dented many male-dominated regimes, Palin fell back on the oldest of strategies - the flirt, the come-hither glance, the wink, the promise of power in exchange for sex. During the 1950s, this sort of manipulation was, for many women, one of the few tools available to access power. But this is not the 1950s.Her behavior during the debate was that of a starlet turning on the charm when she didn't know what she was talking about. Remember the cute little smile, and "can we talk about Afghanistan?" when she was lost in a foreign policy question and needed to change the subject? When she talked directly to the television-viewing audience, it was not a Reagan/Bush "let's you and me talk" moment. It was the cheerleader, with a glint in her eye, saying, "Let's - just you and me - go outside, and talk in someplace quiet."The most unnerving moment of the debate was when the candidates were asked what they would do, God forbid, if their running mate perished. Palin's smile turned icy hard, explaining that she and presidential candidate John McCain didn't always agree. One could almost hear her thoughts: "I have my own agenda, kids. Just you wait!" This was the queen of the cheerleaders talking, and heaven help anyone who gets in her way. Will the voters buy this seduction?Tim Kingston is a journalist, activist and professional curmudgeon who lives in the East Bay. Lisa Moore is a public health activist who grew up in Oakland and works in San Francisco.
Try to imagine Hillary Rodham Clinton or Geraldine Ferraro in a bikini.
Tim Kingston is a journalist
