Analysis of "Why ‘Drill, baby, Drill’ was right”

So the piece of political communication I will be writing about will be Sarah Palin’s blog post “Why ‘Drill, baby, Drill’ was right” in which she both proves a point in how she was right with the idea to “drill our way into lower gas prices” and also how Obama is now boasting about it even though one of his platforms was against drilling in 2008.

            The first thing that you would notice in this is the fact that it is definitely written by Palin. There is a tone that you can almost hear Palin (or Tina Fey if that’s the train of thought you subscribe to) speaking the words. Another reason I believe that it was written by Palin is there are times when there are errors. These errors are not in the writing but in the way that it is formatted. In the second paragraph there is a return in between “the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas” and “produced its billionth barrel of oil.” While these are very small errors they are something that I notice and distract me quite a bit. However this might just be the journalist in me. 

            In this Blog she then goes onto site the state of the union by Obama this year where she praised the people who have made us “free from the grip of foreign oil as we’ve been in almost 30 years.” But she brings up that in Miami three years ago he said, “We can’t just drill our way to lower gas prices.” So this gives her a feel of being on the attacking side. This is just the start of the blog though.

            She then goes on, as any proud Alaskan would, to say how the Alaskans have been saying that drilling for our natural gasses is the only thing to lower gasoline prices and they have been dealing with the frustrations. She believes the biggest frustrations for the Alaskans are dealing with people in DC and trying not to “Piss away” another oil boom if it is to happen. She does sound very natural but at the same time I feel to an older conservative this would come across as a negative, but personally I think as a younger person that this style is something I like.

            She also describes the energy sector as “the star athlete” and those in DC “scrambling on the sidelines, unaware of how to react” which can really come across as demeaning and almost insulting.

            I think if she were to make a presidential run she would need to keep the same if not just similar message but learn how to express these points in a more professional and respectful way. While she does make a good point about how her policy for the energy sector and the oil industry was right it just came off a bit un-nerving to me.

http://www.sarahpac.com/why-drill-baby-drill-was-right/

Sarah Palin's Social media uses and internet presence

        Sarah Palin appears to be actually one of the more involved politicians on social media and online in general. Sarah Palin does have a website which I have talked about before . The website has actually changed since last week so included in this post I have put a short clip of what the page looks like now . Instead of just a picture of Capital Hill as a “Cover photo” she has now added a bald eagle, and bear catching salmon, her holding a baby, you know everything that screams America that rolls through at the top. But also on this page she has links to all sorts of things, including videos and articles she likes. But one of these area’s however is actually a rolling feed from her twitter and then links to her on Twitter, Facebook, and even Pinterest. She in fact has a Pinterest account with titles such as “The people I fight for” where she post things about American heroes, also “Mama Grizzly and her cubs” under this section it’s titled meet the Palin's. I feel this is a unique take for a politician and it makes her a lot more accessible I feel, which is an image she has always had.

        However her social media has also gotten her in trouble. According to NYDailynews.com she also can be somewhat oblivious about what she posts and this could get her in some trouble. On the first of the year this year she posted a picture on Facebook that had her son, Trig, stepping on the back of the family dog in order to reach the sink and help with dishes. Her message of this post was to say that he is using what he has available to overcome an obstacle.
        Trig is diagnosed with down syndrome but he was determined to help with the dishes that day. But this ended up blowing up in her face with comments such as, “Poor dog. And how exactly is the dog supposed to get up, with a seventy or more pound kid on his spine?” This is something she should work on in the future elections.

        Palin also has her own online TV station called sarahpalinchannel.com in which she post what appear to be a daily episode for her followers to watch. There are several sub-titles on this page including America, and Obama. This is just another way she has boosted her online presence even more.

        So she is not only active on the the traditional social media sites, Facebook and Twitter, but she has also used Pinterest to reach a more broad audience and has even created her own channel rather than using a Youtube video she now can post what ever she wants on her own page. I think however moving forward into the next election she will need to be more carful about what she post on these because her image is already being damaged with things she has said in person she doesn’t need to harm it even more with things she writes on social media. And as for any question about Viral videos of Sarah Palin there are way to many to write about in this blog but my personal favorites are Tina Fey’s impersonation done on Saturday Night live. Thanks for reading so here’s a video of one of the SNL sketches.

Sarah Palins Images and Issues

Candidate image is a very interesting topic especially surrounding Sarah Palin. In the majority of comments I received on my last post people talked to her being an “interes  People also assume that ever since she has come out with her own channel in July of 2014 that she will not take another stab at the campaign trial. She has become more of talk show host and has included he fact that she wants “you to talk directly to me” making her more accessible than some of the other candidates. But all of this goes into her image. She will find a way to spin this into a good thing if she decides to run or even if she is a running mate to another candidate.

ting character” or her being “interesting and intriguing to people.” I would say this is definitely a part of her candidate image. Unfortunately for her a lot of people now do not take her seriously as she has been out of politics for quite awhile.

            I feel Palin’s strengths would have to be her ability to be recognized and her “friendly tone.” Politico reported that this website allows her supporters and subscribers another way to discuss the issues facing the U.S. and like I said in the last paragraph, for her to do well she needs to turn this into a true strength like it can be. A weakness would be the loss of followers because of the statements that she has made in the past. Such as the IowaFreedom Summit, where the “critiques have been devastating” according to the Washington Post. Something that will be an opportunity for her is the fact she is a woman and a lot of people that are presumed to be running are male. Also a threat for her would be that the media is very strict on her you could say. Websites such as the HuffingtonPost runs a Sarah Palin Criticism and even a Valentine’s Day edition.  So this is a general SWOT analysis for Palin’s campaign.

            I think that the biggest issue that Palin will highlight is energy independence. She states on her “About” tab on SarahPAC.com that she believes it is “the cornerstone of the economic security and progress that every American family wants and deserves.” She also goes on to highlight her stance on foreign policy and health care education and government reform stating that they are “Among our key goals.” So as far as I am concerned, as my political knowledge is very small still, I believe that these are the platforms that she is running on and that she will highlight. It reads as if she believes the majority of things that the Republican part believes and will lean towards their beliefs the majority of the time.

So this is an overview of Palins public image, a quick SWOT analysis of her candidacy, and some of her platforms. Thanks for reading.

About Sarah Palin

            Sarah Palin is the candidate I have chosen to do this blog assignment on for Coms 307. Palin is a mother of five kids, Bristol, Willow, Trig, Track, and Piper and is married to Todd Palin who owns a fishing business in Alaska. Palin was born in Idaho but moved with her family to Alaska at a

very young age where she moved around a bit before being settled in Wasilla, Alaska at the age of eight. Wasilla is where she attended high school, winning a state championship in basketball. She then attended many different colleges but received her degree from University of Idaho in Communications with an emphasis in Journalism. This led her to her first career, which was as a sports reporter in anchorage. However she gave up that dream and married Todd, here high school sweetheart and moved back to Wasilla where she became a city council member and then shortly after that mayor. She then continued onto be a chairperson for the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and then Governor of Alaska.

            While governor of Alaska she was chosen as running mate to John McCain for his 2008 presidential election. This would be considered valuable experience if she does decide to run in the 2016 election as she has already been through a campaign cycle as a running mate. She also has an appeal to the religious right side of the Republican Party. She created a Political Action Committee (PAC) for herself called SarahPAC. On sarahpac.com it says that Palin stands for Energy Independence and that U.S. Foreign Policy should be based off of the “National interests, not the interest of others” She has spent the past few years as more of an activist for others rather than running her own campaign which has sent her all around the country including Kansas where she publically backed Pat Roberts as the Senator for Kansas.

SarahPAC supported a number of candidates in this most recent election and even posted a picture titled “Let’s win on November 4th”. 

            Most recently Palin has been giving speeches such as the one in Des Moines, Iowa. The Washington Post described it as a “34 1/2 -minute roller coaster ride of clichés, non sequiturs and warmed-over grievances” and continued with “One line that stood out: “GOP leaders, by the way, you know, ‘The Man,’ can only ride ya when your back is bent. So strengthen it. Then The Man can’t ride ya” statements like this caused the Post to question her candidacy and said she has lost her fans. However it is still possible for Palin to attempt to make a run for the Presidential nomination here in the following months.

            Hopefully this gave you an overview of here career and the “need to know” stuff on her possible campaign. If you have any questions leave them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them.