Sarah's bag of tricks: what happens if she cries during the debate?

[SoonerPride]

Will that make the public sympathetic to her and rally to support her?
Will she be a further embarrassment to the McLame cam"pain"?

I'm not saying that females cry and men don't.

I'm suggesting that she intentionally turns on the waterworks at a crucial point in the debate. Maybe talking about Trig in Iraq or Bristol's baby "problem" or more likely her own Down Syndrome child.

Tear up and evoke sympathy and get everyone on her side in a coldly calculated and premeditated moment.

Am I crazy?

[Starbucks Anarchist]

1. Then she loses big time.

If Joe Biden makes her cry, how does she handle Al Qaeda?

[SoonerPride]

4. I'm not talking about crying in reaction to a tough question

I'm suggesting "making her human, a vulnerable mom" worried about her kids, something "every mom in america can identify with."

And doing so intentionally.

Talk about her baby and cry. On cue.

[MSU_Spartans]

36. People already think she's human and vulnerable...

Her task now is to prove she's ready and qualified. Crying doesn't help. In fact, I think it will hurt her.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

51. But that idea wouldn't work in this context.

It's one thing if she was interviewed by People magazine and did it, but it's quite another if she does it in the middle of a policy-heavy debate.

[Ganja Ninja]

8. Exactly.

Only dumb asses would vote for someone because they felt sorry for her and she has the dumb ass vote already locked up.

[merh]

35. you said it

its that 24% that approve GWB come hell or high water or because they want the hell & high water.

[JohnMcCant2008]

2. For one thing - I wet my pants laughing!! I have NO sympathy for the woman - none, nada, zip, zilch

[elizfeelinggreat]

3. It works for boehner ...

I have no idea how that would play out but it would piss me off if she did it.

(Poor little pitbull)

[cali]

11. Really? By what measure does it work for Boehner?

[elizfeelinggreat]

19. He is the minority leader

and it hasn't hurt him politically.

( I dislike him also, if you're wondering about that. )

[cali]

38. I don't doubt that you dislike him, I just question that crying has helped him

with the public. there's simply no data on that. as for his being minority leader, that isn't a function of public approval.

[EstimatedProphet]

5. It will end there.

That will be the last straw. No more McCain/Palin at that point.

[SoonerPride]

9. Does Biden ask to stop the debate to give her a moment to compose herself?

What then?

[EstimatedProphet]

13. It might be even better if he did

If anything would indicate that she's over her head in this situation, it would be your opponent having to show sympathy for your performance.

[CTyankee]

69. "It's okay, Sarah. I understand." sez Joe, caringly. Then he signals to Gwen Ifill

for a timeout. He does this gently and nicely and gives her space. Every female watching will ADORE him for such a response.

It's called "kill her with kindness."

[LibraLiz1973]

6. The she kisses the election buh-bye right at that second

[Hepburn]

10. My take on it, too.

Can you imagine people thinking: Oh, my, could she do that in front of Putin, too?

[FSogol]

7. or the "unfair" attacks on her family. n/t

[1corona4u]

12. What if Joe Biden cries?

His son leaves for Iraq the very next day....

[SoonerPride]

15. He's come close to tearing up a few times, you can see him pushing back the tears.

But out and out crying?

If either candidate did it, it could be a devastating moment.

It would instantly galvanize public opinion either in sympathy for or derision of that candidate.

I worry it could be a tone changer in order to get the meanies off her back.

[SoxFan]

20. I was thinking the same thing

Biden is a very emotional guy, a "hot" personality as opposed to Obama's "cool" demeanor. I could see him getting emotional talking about Beau's deployment.

Biden's a lot like my dad. He's the same age, comes from a blue-collar irish Catholic background, and is a bit of a wise ass. he can also get all mushy when family is involved.

[Jackpine Radical]

14. Is she known to have ever used the crying tactic?

I suspect not, because it's too far outside her "Barracuda" image. Barracudas don't cry. They don't even blink.

[vanderBeth]

16. I think it would be the end of it.

A) People would want to know how she could be expected to lead the country if she can't make it through the debate

B) If she did do that, hopefully some people like me would see through the crocodile tears to see it as a very low attempt to get sympathy, one of the many lows of her campaign.

[TwilightGardener]

17. I don't think she'd be caught dead crying. Hillary didn't want to do it either, but

she wanted to win so bad she forced the waterworks in New Hampshire. Biden's more likely to cry, he seems a big cryer.

[gblady]

29. I agree....

She does not seem to have the compassionate soul that can lead to public crying....
...I haven't seen it displayed in her demeanor with her family or towards voters...

Joe, however, does have that compassion...but I think he will be all business on Thursday.
The only thing could be discussion about Beau...

[Metric System]

65. Ugh.

[Metric System]

66. Dupe.

[marshall]

18. It didn't work too well for Hillary, so my guess is it would mean another downhill spiral

People don't want to see women cry.

[Occam Bandage]

24. Didn't work too well? She charged back and won NH against all expectations.

[marshall]

48. But it was a short term gain and a huge long term loss

It took a while for it to sink in with the voters--they don't want a sniveling snot-nosed blubbering pushover anywhere near the White House.

[Occam Bandage]

50. Long-term loss? She would have been knocked out for good had she lost NH.

Instead, she was just one or two percentage points of the nationwide vote away from winning the delegate count outright. Her favorables went up after her tears, not down--and certainly nobody thought she was "a pushover" during the kitchen-sink phase of her campaign.

[marshall]

56. The kitchen sink phase happened because the tears couldn't

I do agree that it showed her as being the exact opposite of the crying red eyed creature that we saw earlier.
In the end I'm not sure which face could have won her the nomination--had she picked one and stuck with it throughout.
And now we're seeing the same thing from Palin--waffling between weak and being hard nosed.

[LatteLibertine]

21. If I were Biden I'd rip her up

if confronted about it I'd suggest I'm not a sexist and treated her like I would have any VP opponent.

[marions ghost]

47. Absolutely

it would be stupid of Biden to be soft on her. Insulting to a lot of Biden's female constituency and really not appropriate. He can't give an inch. He has to treat her just like he'd treat Hillary Clinton. Go for the jugular. Not OVER do it...just be all business about it. Let her hang herself as much as possible.

[Occam Bandage]

22. Hard to say. I would have thought Clinton's were a terrible idea, but they were brilliant.

(It's far enough out that we can discuss that openly and honestly now, right?)

[vaberella]

27. Not in New York. The Daily News & NYT treated HRC like trash.

Everyone was saying, "She cried." <---Then started laughing.

[Occam Bandage]

40. And who was laughing after the NH results came in?

[vaberella]

57. It didn't matter. NY turned her into a cockroach. And...

as a New Yorker from the City...we don't really care about other people in other states in the primary. I didn't even know NYC was an Obama city at the time...it was later something I noticed when I was on the MTA (and the conductors saying vote for him). Then I saw the ultimate move. Gray's Papaya said Vote Obama. So NH meant nothing because DN and a lot of others were pro Obama. They've been slaughtering Palin periodically here.

[Occam Bandage]

59. NY needs to get over itself. Nobody else particularly cares.

[vaberella]

60. I've been saying that for years. n/t

[CTyankee]

71. "Leave New York alone!" Waaaa.

(not really, I love New York)

[Metric System]

64. Ugh. It's nice you can read her mind. And it's hardly like the tears were flowing. She got a bit

choked up. She's human. But clearly some posters here haven't gotten over the primaries and continue to see everything she does with ulterior motive.

[vaberella]

23. No, they'll all laugh at her. How do I know...because MSM teared HRC to bits for tearing...n/t

[rateyes]

25. Biden should beat her to the tears.

"Awwwww, he's so sensitive." I can hear it now. :eyes:

[workinclasszero]

26. Is she gonna cry the next time Putin rears his head???

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[ClarkUSA]

28. Then Biden should quickly pull out his hankerchief, dab Miss Piggy's tears away and give her a hug.

His gentlemanly response will win hearts and minds around the world. :)

[rateyes]

30. She's a pit bull. Pit bulls don't cry.

:eyes:

[LynneSin]

39. Pit Bull image is wearing off - she needs a new tactics

and I for think that cry could be the next option

[H2O Man]

41. Might make

her lipstick run.

[RichGirl]

31. You are buying into the media crap...

...that I think is very insulting to the public.

I can sympathize with Palin, I'll feel sorry for her if she breaks down, I'm give her credit if she performs better than in her interviews...but THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT I WANT HER TO BE ONE SUNBURN AWAY FROM THE PRESIDENCY!

Jeez...who could possibly be so insanely stupid that with a war that we can't end and an economy that is tanking...they see a weeping woman and say..."we need to vote for her to make her feel better"!!!!

After the election she can make the circuit and visit Oprah and Dr. Phil. We see sad cases all the time, people who over come huge challenges...when do we ever say "that person should be president".

[RichGirl]

34. Furthermore....

A person with her lack of intelligence and knowledge who has become governor....is damn lucky! She has gotten way more in life than she has earned or deserves. Why would anyone feel sorry for her. You can feel sorry for all the woman in the repub party, men too, who are smart and have worked hard for years and were passed over for someone who was younger and prettier.

[H2O Man]

32. Ask Ed Muskie. n/t

[MaineDem]

42. I still believe it was snow

But Loeb saw it differently.

[H2O Man]

43. Oh, I do, too.

It was the perception that Loeb pushed.

[Blackhatjack]

45. ... I thought of Muskie immediately as well.

IF there is one rule of politics that every political strategist knows it is that your candidate never cries on the stump.

Rightly or wrongly, people still associate the tears with weakness in handling positions of power.

THat is why you did not see Hillary Clinton shed one tear in her concession speech, and why her 'choked up' moment earlier in the campaign cut across her support base even as it registered with women as a specific demographic.

The Muskie meltdown definitely doomed his chances, and I would expect a similar meltdown by Palin would have a tremendously negative effect on the McCain/Palin ticket.

[livetohike]

33. You're not crazy. We're so used to Republican tricks that we

are expecting something like that to happen. However, if she wants to maintain her pitbull persona, she will not cry. Remember, the Republicans have built her up and created this image. It's all they have left.

I'm hoping there is zero family talk and I can't imagine why it would even come up in a debate. If she starts in on it, I hope Gwen Ifil shuts her down with a comment like, "Answer the question Governor. This is a debate, not a group therapy session."

[RichGirl]

44. There was a repub on yesterday...

...advising what she should do. According to him, she should not even try to answer hard questions, just tell her story, mother of special needs child, etc. Well, that might be fine for the first question, but she'll have 10 questions to answer. Is she going to answer each one with a personal story about her life???? While Biden answering questions about he economy, foreign policey, etc, intelligently. She'll say "Well, when I was in the PTA......."

[livetohike]

49. I think I saw that segment with the strategist or whatever

I hope Gwen Ifil shuts her down on that from the start.

[TwilightGardener]

52. That was Todd what's-his-face, McCain's old advisor, on Tweety--I saw that.

She's just going to try to make emotional/feminist appeals and take jabs at Obama.

[Jennicut]

37. I doubt Palin would cry, she is a very cold person.

That being said has any candidate ever cried in debate? Speeches, yes but a debate? Palin seems like a robot as well. Joe is much more tapped into his emotions then she is. I have seen him cry like 4 times aleady. She could fake it but I don't think she wants to look weak. She wants to come off as an attack dog.

[marions ghost]

46. Crying is not in her personality...

so I take it that you are thinking she would use it effectively because she's a woman.

Nah she'll leave the crocodile tears to Boehner and some of those other Repig drama queens.

No matter how badly Sarah does, she'll brave it out--that's her forte and how she's gotten so far. Women these days identify with the tough woman, not the crying woman. These are tough times. She's been up there defending us all from the Russians, dontcha know.

If Sarah cried it would be the nail in the coffin -- proving that she does not have what it takes to lead. She would lose support all over the place.

Anyway Sarah Barracuda's not prone to crying. She's a demanding ass-kicker. John Wayne McCain's sidekick.

[Left Is Write]

53. Do Pit Bull Barracudas cry?

[renate]

54. I think if she cried about her son in Iraq she'd be okay

She'd get away with that, IMHO. Crying about Bristol, after everybody's been pretending to be happy about her pregnancy and wedding, wouldn't work. But I think she'd be pretty untouchable if she cried about her soldier son.

[seasat]

55. Joe would shout, "Crying! There's no crying in politics!" N/T

[SoonerPride]

61. But there is.

Isn't there?

[themaguffin]

58. Crying won't work. She would immediately lose regardless of her "reason"

[Willo]

62. It would hurt. She doesn't have room to tell a personal, heartwarming story.

She has to try and convince people she knows something other than how to attack.

She has to prove she's intelligent and knowledgeable on the issues.

[elkston]

63. She's not going to cry.

She'll be poor to mediocre and the media will spin it as "holding her own".

[Jersey Devil]

67. I think she should bring a hammer and bust a watermelon like Gallagher

It certainly would solidify the wingnut vote!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VhFgGFRA_g

[CakeGrrl]

68. Cry over WHAT? Biden will NOT go for a personal attack, so if she tries that ploy

forget it. If she breaks down in tears during a civil debate over policy and ideology, why would we let her represent us abroad?

That should be the nail in the coffin.

[sniffa]

70. I'm more worried about her giving birth during the debate

There's no topping that show and if it happens we're toast.

[marions ghost]

73. I needed a laugh today.....

:rofl:

sniffa, :yourock:

[Stop Cornyn]

72. FauxNoise makes much of Joe Biden crying during campaign speeches; perhaps we shouldn't make such an

issue about McPalin crying.

[Pisces]

74. She will have taken an anti anxiety pill to calm down. IF she crys it's because she cracked.