The Palin’ Identity

The reason why the McCain-Palin campaign has appeared erratic throughout the election season is that their strategic communications have been conceived and crafted according to the language of implicit cultural code rather than explicit thematic cohesion. On the surface, their messages appear scattershot, misaligned, contradictory and confusing; but that's because these messages are designed to appeal not to crisp logical consistency, but rather to murky socio-cultural undercurrents and subterranean sentiments which have fueled, informed, and warped white identity politics since the birth of this nation.

What's extraordinary is that this time around — at this particular crossroads, against this particular candidate — it's not working.

The beauty of US history is that years, decades, centuries of persistent popular struggle have resulted in dramatic social, political, and cultural changes in the continuing quest for greater common good. The ugliness of US history is that at every step, reactionaries have undertaken — and many others have tolerated — all manner of inner and outer violence in a greed- and fear-based desire to impose and maintain exclusionary power schemes. I view the 2008 presidential election as some sort of forward step along this trajectory. I hesitate to either overstate or understate the historical significance of what we're witnessing. We're way too close to the moment's clamor to know just what it means in a larger scope.

Not that this is about to stop me from sounding off now.

As I see it, the McCain campaign is perhaps best encapsulated by the iconic VP choice of Sarah Palin. Not because she's been a "drag" on the ticket. Not because of her many flaws as a candidate. Rather, because of what her selection, and its outcome, reveal about the US political landscape. I don't believe that Palin was "unvetted". I think GOP operatives knew exactly what they were getting when they picked her. I believe they simply threw the full weight of this year's presidential campaign into the strategic calculation that a raw smashface appeal to white identity politics, against a black opponent, would outweigh and overwhelm any dainty intellectual nitpicking or idealistic rhetoric.

To be sure, there remains a doughy core of conservative Americans who breed a noxious hostility to the changing shape and hue of US society. I've taken to calling this group "the twenty-two percenters". These people ludicrously view themselves as the only true Americans, beleaguered and beset on all sides by a dark tidal wave of the heathen unclean and their liberal lackeys. And these people have indeed responded well to the McCain-Palin message, whose only unifying theme has been to consistently draw from America's deep well of racist constructs and paint the Democratic candidate as Barack The Other. The twenty-two percenters read the code correctly and conclude that Obama is not one of Us. He can't be trusted because he doesn't share Our values. He harbors unpatriotic views of America, like the terrorists and anti-Semites he pals around with. He's an insurrectionary community organizer who threatens to destroy the fabric of democracy by infiltrating the White House on behalf of ACORN, Black Radicals, Muslims, communists, and illegal immigrants. He's a socialist who's going to redistribute wealth from Joe The Plumber to welfare queens looking for handouts and giveaways. He's The Spook Who Sat In The Oval Office.

Unfortunately for the McCain-Palin campaign, the twenty-two percenters are small, flaccid, and shrinking. And there's no Viagra strong enough to bolster their diminution in the face of cultural, generational, and demographic shifts which are transforming the electorate. No matter how rabidly the twenty-two percenters promote white teen pregnancy and fundamentalist home schooling, the country is slipping away from their clammy grasp and changing in ways that are simply beyond their power to halt.

Don't get me wrong: racism remains a pervasive factor in the US and global order. Anyone who suggests that we're in some sort of "post-racial" era might as well go ahead and spit in the faces of people and communities of color who endure daily inequality, exploitation, incarceration, economic injustice, and more forms of dehumanization than I can possibly list, as a direct result of racism and colonialism. An Obama presidency isn't going to undo all that. Moreover, white liberals who think McCain's "dog whistle politics" are somehow beyond the pale of normal civilized discourse are wrong. Such liberals probably just weren't sharp enough or interested enough to notice before, because we've never before had a presidential election with a person of color on a major-party ticket. Now they're sensitized to it and are shocked and appalled. In truth, white identity politics aren't the shocking exception but the mundane norm. For many of us, it's simply what we experience every day, in mass media, in the workplace, in social interactions, in the blogosphere. It's usually not dramatized and magnified by the glaring 24/7 national spotlight of an epic presidential campaign, but it's woven into the fabric of mainstream US culture.

Nevertheless, I think it's safe to say that two generations of steady anti-racist work in the wake of the Civil Rights movement have had a profound effect on mainstream attitudes. The stigmatization of racism, so often decried as mere "political correctness", has in some ways succeeded in driving the most toxic forms of racist hatred underground, resulting in a popular culture which at least tolerates a superficial modicum of racial diversity. Many white kids growing up in this environment simply don't respond to people of color with the same visceral disdain that was common among whites just one or two generations ago. They may still harbor stereotypes and blindspots; they may still view the world through an uninterrogated prism of white normativity; but they're not explicitly racist and they're not afraid of Barack Obama. Indeed the same can be said of many not-so-young white Americans who have longed for years to heal the burning wounds of our fractured nation. They may not be consciously anti-racist but they know bigotry when they see it and it's not what they believe in.

It's obvious that Obama has tapped into a powerful vein of energy and emotion coursing just underneath our society's skin. So many people want to believe that we can be better. The genius of the Obama campaign has been its ability to ignite and draw upon that widespread desire and idealism without getting caught up or pulled into the previous generation's embittered battles and intractable stalemates. This isn't a repudiation of what came before and what paved the way. It's a fresh attempt to take previous high points and apply them to a new era. This doesn't mean that I agree with all of Obama's politics; it means that I understand, appreciate, and respect what he's trying to do.

In this election, the McCain campaign slammed its money down on the bet that the Palin identity could overwhelm the Obama hope. But it's turning out that tectonic plates have shifted underneath that calculation. The twenty-two percenters increasingly find themselves on a sinking island. They aren't done with their sad and desperate attempts to protect the crumbling edges of their world, but the outcome of this year's election should tell us a lot about how shaky the stilts are under their beach houses. I'm looking forward to seeing plenty of movement.

Comments

[Kathy]

I don;t think I have ever commented here, I read your The White Liberal Conundrum a while ago, it's really one of the best things I have ever read, i sometimes come back and as my life changes, I go back and read it. That is an enduring piece of writing.

This post, The Palin Identity, is a really good analysis of white identity politics, and you know, what burns me up is that you are a far better writer than Tim Wise, but he get's paid to do it. I know he's done good work, but it's just one more thing to add to the pile.

Thanks again, I love reading your blog.

btw I love One Nation Under a Groove.

[DaisyDeadhead]

I don't believe that Palin was "unvetted". I think GOP operatives knew exactly what they were getting when they picked her. I believe they simply threw the full weight of this year's presidential campaign into the strategic calculation that a raw smashface appeal to white identity politics, against a black opponent, would outweigh and overwhelm any dainty intellectual nitpicking or idealistic rhetoric.

YES! I agree completely! But you'd be surprised how many people don't see this. The sophisticated neo-cons in Washington like William Kristol and Charles Krauthammer are just clueless. They see an inexperienced idiot, period, and they really aren't comprehending how she was expected to resonate out in the heartland.

Thing is, lots of the so-called heartlanders are tired of being represented by idiots, too. The insult is also directed to the people who were expected to mindlessly climb onboard the bandwagon. Just like the whole Liddy Dole/Kay Hagan thing currently happening in North Carolina, there is a notable faction of otherwise-conservative folks suddenly asking, look, how DUMB do you think we are anyway?

A step forward, no question! :)

[Kathy]

I just wanted to add one more thing about Palin. Why is it the her association with Alaskan Independence Party and Mark Chryson have never come out in the MSM, with all the links on their website to white separatist and white supremazits? I think her base is stormfront, that's where all those horrible people at her "rallys" come from.

[Kai]

Kathy, thank you for your generous words. I have nothing against Tim Wise and like his writings, though of course his whiteness has been a factor in his prominence and success as an anti-racist writer and speaker, as he himself acknowledges. I also think his writing style is probably a bit more casual and market-friendly than my elaborate bombast, hehe. Anyway, I'm glad you delurked and glad my writings mean something enduring to you. Thanks again!

Daisy, agreed, I don't believe that the folks I'm referring to as the twenty-two percenters are representative of the "heartland". There are backward people everywhere in the world, and there are decent thoughtful people everywhere too -- at least that's my experience. As you say, the fact that Dole's ridiculous "godless" attack is backfiring says something!

[mm]

as always, thanks for the insightful and powerful analysis, kai. this post is a great final word to end the seemingly never-ending campaign. now if only you could write president obama's inauguration speech!

[Jon]

"Unfortunately for the McCain-Palin campaign, the twenty-two percenters are small, flaccid, and shrinking. And there's no Viagra strong enough to bolster their diminution in the face of cultural, generational, and demographic shifts which are transforming the electorate. No matter how rabidly the twenty-two percenters promote white teen pregnancy and fundamentalist home schooling, the country is slipping away from their clammy grasp and changing in ways that are simply beyond their power to halt."

I love this paragraph. Excellent writing, as usual.

[drydock]

Good read. Today (11/5) the cup seems half full. Perhaps it's a good time to reflect on the hard earned progress this country has made, while acknowledging the many intolerable conditions that still exist in this US/world. Thanks.

[Kai]

mm, Jon, drydock, thanks for the good words!

[sweetleaf]

yes, the 22 percenters, now whose in the minority? they are acquainting with the fear that can exist there, only with a more compassionate majority. hence, their fear created is still from self. karma?
as i read this post out loud to my significant, he kept saying, "that's it exactly, that's what i think, that is really good, can you save that". thank you kai for the beautifully said, of sound intelligent reasoning and assessment, of the dynamics at play during the elections. the truth to your writing upheld by the results of november 4th. amen.

[sweetleaf]

now i go to search for the white liberal conundrum :)