In this battle of definitions, actual truth matters scarcely at all, the game is won on perceptions. There is the great anecdote told by Mike Deaver about a network correspondent who called to apologize about a hit piece on Ronald Reagan in which the correspondent in voice-over criticized him. Deaver laughed,
No need to apologize, the visuals were terrific. You shot Reagan in front of Air Force One and in front of the flag. On television, no one listens to the audio, the visuals trump everything. Thanks for helping my candidate. (this is a paraphrase)
Governor Palin has absolutely no problem with visuals but she has been "overwhelmed" in the definition game by the left. Couric and Tina Fey have defined her for the middle of America. She can undo that with study and application. Sadly, she shows no disposition to do so. I have suggested that she get herself a couple of writers at least one of whom should be a comedy writer. Just two weeks ago I heard either Newt Gingrich or Marc Steyn say the same thing on television. Sarah Palin's resistance to attending to her forensic image and winning the definition game suggests that she probably will not be a candidate for President in the next cycle. We shall see.
Do I think that Reagan and Jefferson had gravitas? I do not need to be careful, Jefferson was a young man when he wrote the Declaration of Independence and he would not have been selected with Adams and Franklin if the committee of the whole did not think he had the weightiness to deliver the goods. Reagan was a man of image on television and he knew the value of a jacket and tie to establish seriousness. The left tried to paint him as a dilettante with reference to "bedtime for Bonzo" but Reagan simply put it all aside with one boffo speech and a consistent demeanor. Sarah Palin can do the same, she must first demonstrate that she knows she has a "gravitas" problem.
