Mystery, Alaska
Aug. 2nd, 2009 03:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penpusherThere were so many people who were so high on the now former Alaskan Governor as she made her appearance on the national stage. Sarah Palin was a "regular person" who was a "maverick." She had family values, and dealt with her family's situations as best she could, and people loved her for that.
In some ways, I felt badly for her. Here she was, quietly minding the northernmost outpost of the USA, with most everyone in the lower 48 barely aware of who she was, and then she got thrust into the glare of the media circus that is a United States Presidential Election, with practically no warning or training. It wasn't as if she had been planning to be on the Republican ticket (at least not that soon) and that her aspirations had carried her to that moment. It's that the candidate needed some kind of gimmick, a way to attract voters to his side, and she was the package.
As a former beauty queen, Ms. Palin certainly was able to hold her own with a quick sound bite or one of her trademark winks, as long as nobody asked her anything of substance. It was on those occasions that the severe lack of knowledge about how government worked, how the Founding Fathers set up the Constitution and other such trivialities exposed her as being somewhat lacking in leadership.
But now, she's gone. Just like that. She stepped down from her office, as Russia's most famous Back Door Neighbor, and it's still completely unclear why. Even her father, who was interviewed about it, had no insights about what happened or the process that lead to the decision.
In her farewell speech, Palin suggested that she didn't want to be a "Lame Duck," which is a ludicrous concept. If every lame duck politician stepped down before the end of their terms, that would change everything about the election process! This is, most certainly, a foppery of freedom!
So, what's really going on here? Why did she walk away? Some think it's so she can gear up for a Presidential run in 2012. But who would support someone who didn't even stick around to finish her job as Governor? Some think there's some ginormous scandal brewing: maybe David Letterman was inadvertently right, and her daughter Willow (whom Letterman was not joking about but the Palin camp insisted on reacting to it as if he were), barely a teen, got pregnant. And there's also a suggestion that Palin wanted to cross over to the other side of the microphone and become a broadcaster, which seems to be the place where more and more Republicans seem to be going to spew their rhetoric. No takers yet.
It's a mystery that only Ms. Palin has the true answer for, and it doesn't seem like we're going to learn anything more, at least for now. Yet, she keeps turning up on newscasts, the pundits continue to discuss her future, and those talking heads constantly debate her choices. I guess if you want to remain in the public eye, make sure people have no idea what you're doing and the media will do the rest!
But what hasn't really been said, or at least what I haven't heard said, is that the reason for this constant fascination with Sarah Palin is that she is about it when it comes to high profile women in the Republican party! That's why she's such a big deal. If the GOP had more potential female leaders, Palin would likely recede into the horizon, which is where she probably belongs.
In some ways, I felt badly for her. Here she was, quietly minding the northernmost outpost of the USA, with most everyone in the lower 48 barely aware of who she was, and then she got thrust into the glare of the media circus that is a United States Presidential Election, with practically no warning or training. It wasn't as if she had been planning to be on the Republican ticket (at least not that soon) and that her aspirations had carried her to that moment. It's that the candidate needed some kind of gimmick, a way to attract voters to his side, and she was the package.
As a former beauty queen, Ms. Palin certainly was able to hold her own with a quick sound bite or one of her trademark winks, as long as nobody asked her anything of substance. It was on those occasions that the severe lack of knowledge about how government worked, how the Founding Fathers set up the Constitution and other such trivialities exposed her as being somewhat lacking in leadership.
But now, she's gone. Just like that. She stepped down from her office, as Russia's most famous Back Door Neighbor, and it's still completely unclear why. Even her father, who was interviewed about it, had no insights about what happened or the process that lead to the decision.
In her farewell speech, Palin suggested that she didn't want to be a "Lame Duck," which is a ludicrous concept. If every lame duck politician stepped down before the end of their terms, that would change everything about the election process! This is, most certainly, a foppery of freedom!
So, what's really going on here? Why did she walk away? Some think it's so she can gear up for a Presidential run in 2012. But who would support someone who didn't even stick around to finish her job as Governor? Some think there's some ginormous scandal brewing: maybe David Letterman was inadvertently right, and her daughter Willow (whom Letterman was not joking about but the Palin camp insisted on reacting to it as if he were), barely a teen, got pregnant. And there's also a suggestion that Palin wanted to cross over to the other side of the microphone and become a broadcaster, which seems to be the place where more and more Republicans seem to be going to spew their rhetoric. No takers yet.
It's a mystery that only Ms. Palin has the true answer for, and it doesn't seem like we're going to learn anything more, at least for now. Yet, she keeps turning up on newscasts, the pundits continue to discuss her future, and those talking heads constantly debate her choices. I guess if you want to remain in the public eye, make sure people have no idea what you're doing and the media will do the rest!
But what hasn't really been said, or at least what I haven't heard said, is that the reason for this constant fascination with Sarah Palin is that she is about it when it comes to high profile women in the Republican party! That's why she's such a big deal. If the GOP had more potential female leaders, Palin would likely recede into the horizon, which is where she probably belongs.
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no subject
Date: 2009-08-02 07:25 pm (UTC)She'll be the perfect candidate by the next election if she works in the medium she claims is victimizing her.
Or, maybe she wants to be on the next cast of Dancing with the Stars.
no subject
Date: 2009-08-02 08:12 pm (UTC)I wouldn't be surprised to see her on Dancing with the Stars, or hosting one of the many pageants that happen as a way of raising her profile as the election draws nearer. The question is what will America think about this candidate with that unexplained gap in her résumé?
no subject
Date: 2009-08-02 08:11 pm (UTC)Great point!
no subject
Date: 2009-08-02 08:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-02 09:44 pm (UTC)She's Ronald Reagan...
Date: 2009-08-02 08:26 pm (UTC)-)
Re: She's Ronald Reagan...
Date: 2009-08-02 08:48 pm (UTC)I don't see any substance with Palin. The best she can do is become the blank screen and have people project their concepts of who she is onto it. Interestingly, this hasn't been a problem for her.
Re: She's Ronald Reagan...
Date: 2009-08-02 08:54 pm (UTC)don;t let the power of delusion fool you,
-)
Re: She's George W. Bush in Heels
Date: 2009-08-02 09:03 pm (UTC)Obama is doing ok with everything so far. The country is improving. And really, I don't know that even another terrorist attack will change the public's opinion, because I think Obama will handle himself as unflappably as he has everything else. He is a leader.
Palin? I try to imagine her dealing with situations like that and my inner video screen shuts off. I think she'd be better than Dubya, but then again, who wouldn't have been?
Well done!
Date: 2009-08-02 09:47 pm (UTC)You are awesome, Deano - and that's all I'm gonna say...
Re: Well done!
Date: 2009-08-02 10:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-02 09:54 pm (UTC)PROBABLY???
no subject
Date: 2009-08-02 10:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-02 11:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-03 12:12 am (UTC)Yeah. Ethics. I don't know if that small matter would derail her either! I'm sure someone will mop up that mess along the way... probably the same people who will organize (read: manipulate) Palin's latter day political career!
Sarah and Todd call it quits!
Date: 2009-08-03 12:14 am (UTC)Re: Sarah and Todd call it quits!
Date: 2009-08-03 12:28 am (UTC)I think it's so funny that AK has come to the forefront of the national scene - Alaskan politics were what got me interested in politics to begin with because they were so fucking ridiculous. Now the whole world's in on it!
no subject
Date: 2009-08-27 11:25 pm (UTC)Mr.Obama seemed like a refreshing change of pace for American society. However, he was weak with foreign policy, but that's where Joe Biden would have come in. Right!?