| Publication |
2009.
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| Summary/Abstract |
During the 2008 vice presidential debate,
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was
pressed by her Democratic rival, Delaware
Senator Joe Biden, and moderator
Gwen I½ll to reply to a question she had
previously ignored. The chipper Palin,
who thrived on the perception of being
persecuted, demurred. "I may not answer
the questions that either the moderator
or you want to hear," she parried,
"but I'm going to talk straight to the
American people."1
For this statement, Palin suffered not
only rebuke, but ridicule. Flaunting her
intent to duck a question amounted to
a failure of manners. Part of the performance
of a presidential (or vice presidential)
debate, after all, consists of following
certain conventions.
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