SEPTEMBER 15, 2008

McCain’s A Hugger

It may seem like a small thing and insignificant in the eyes of most, but to me it stood out like a sore thumb when I was watching news coverage of McCain’s running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, at the Republican National Convention.  No, it wasn’t the striking resemblance between Palin and Tina Fey, nor was it the minor technical difficulties she encountered during her speech, including a faulty teleprompter.  No, it was the hug.  You know what hug I’m talking about - that McCain-Palin embrace (about 1:22 into the clip), so awkward and uncomfortable I was squirming in my seat.  He leaned in and tried to hug, but couldn’t lift his arms high enough to make a full embrace (due to injuries sustained as a POW in Vietnam) and she kind of, sort of leaned in, but looked away and leaned out at the same time.  Hard to imagine, I know, and even more painful to watch.

I wasn’t the only one who noticed the hug.  Elisabeth Bumiller wrote an article about it in The New York Times.  Bumiller pointed out:

It has been nearly a quarter century since Walter F. Mondale almost never touched Geraldine A. Ferraro in public when they shared the Democratic presidential ticket in 1984, and it is safe to say that times have changed.  Back then, Mr. Mondale had a strict ‘hands off’ policy and did not even put his palm on Ms. Ferraro’s back when the two stood side-by-side and waved with uplifted arms.

But today, with our second co-ed presidential ticket, times have clearly changed. According to an etiquette expert quoted for the NYTarticle, Mr. McCain was right to initiate the hugging as Ms. Palin’s hierarchical superior.  As Letitia Baldrige, former White House social secretary to Jacqueline Kennedy, points out in the article, she finds embarrassing “all this fake hugging that goes on when people greet each other on television,” but goes on to say it’s okay for Mr. McCain and Ms. Palin, “because we accept anything now.”

Personally, my initial reaction to the hug, after the distorted look on my face dissipated, was, why hug?  If McCain’s running mate were a man, they would have shaken hands (or would they?  McCain seems like a hugger, check him out in this receiving line.)  Is it a McCain thing, or a woman thing, and is it okay?  To Baldrige’s point, does anything go these days?