The Semiotics of Lipstick

It was a great line in a great speech.

“You know the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom? Lipstick!”

How you reacted to that line in Sarah Palin’s speech at the Republican National Convention amounts to a litmus test of where you stand in relation to the dividing line between our two Americas.

If you loved it, then chances are good that you’re a Republican-leaning voter who admired the themes of strong family values, love of country, and less government.

If you hated it, then chances are good that you’re a Democratic-leaning voter who hated the themes of moral superiority, “Our Country, Right or Wrong,” and “Drill, Baby, Drill.”

Yep, John McCain’s choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate was a brilliant move that reinvigorated his campaign. The Republican base is finally enthusiastically supporting this ticket now that one of its own is on board.

And, yep, John McCain’s choice of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was a desperate move designed to cynically appeal to women and young voters through the very identity politics that everyone pretends to abhor.

So the race remains close. The final two month sprint will determine whether Barack Obama or John McCain will be our next president. The debates are likely to be the most watched and analyzed of all time, including the vice president debate which has almost never, ever meant much of anything.

What a year!

As incredible as it seems, this election will probably be determined by people who are still undecided yet will still vote. That means the unengaged masses who are either too busy or simply too apathetic to have taken the time to make up their minds (let’s call them the “Neanderthals”) are in control.

Be scared, be very, very scared.

To paraphrase Winston Churchill, democracy is a very, very terrible system but, hey, all the others suck worse.

Which brings me to today’s odd development that Obama’s use of the “lipstick on a pig” cliché has been attacked by the McCain camp as sexist.

Let me see if I’ve got this right, any reference to lipstick must refer to Palin, since she said it first and she’s a woman? And Obama is sexist?

This hoopla around Sarah Palin is an amazing case study in how susceptible to manipulation our system is. You would think that Palin’s presence on the ticket would emphasize the differences on issues like the Iraq war and reproductive choice and the economy that make this election such a no-brainer.

But there you have it.

The Obama campaign finds itself having to reclaim the mantle of change and package it in a way that is appealing not threatening. Unfortunately, this is made more difficult since some of these undecided voters, may not be comfortable voting for an African American named Obama.

It looks like turnout in the highly populous cities in battleground states like Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania will be key.

If Milwaukee residents (and residents of the densely populated cities in those other states) vote in record numbers, Obama may win easily. They stay home, he probably loses.

Pretty exciting stuff, huh?