Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Chicagoland / Politics / Clout City Towards a Limited Sort of Sympathy for Sarah Palin
Posted by Whet Moser on 11.17.09 at 04:04 PM
So Mark Kirk's political crush, Sarah Palin, was on Oprah (it wasn't very interesting) and the subject of a cover story in Newsweek (the story is less comprehensible than anything Palin's ever said, but I suspect it was more for the cheesecake cover). Because she's a Big Deal, and must be Reckoned With.
Or, not. Sarah Palin peaked immediately after her speech at the Republican National Convention, and her political relevance is only what sinecure hacks like Matthew Continetti or confused pols like Mark Kirk bestow on her, which is to say not much. She doesn't have a constituency; she doesn't have a political philosophy, and doesn't seem to be courting a movement; she really only has one thing.
She is now what she wants to be: a celebrity. My limited sympathy for her came about when it was revealed that her son Bristol was named after Bristol, Connecticut, home of ESPN and Palin's dream job. This may remind you of Kanye West's line "she couldn't afford a car / so she named her daughter Alexis" (cf. my new favorite site, understandrap.com). It's honestly, well, kinda poignant in a kinda sad sort of way.
Look: she's a grifter. And I don't particularly mean to single her out by saying so. Lots of politicians are grifters, whether in office (Rod Blagojevich, William Jefferson) or afterwards (any number of pols turned lobbyists). Public service isn't a particularly good way to get rich or famous - well-known, perhaps, but not famous, which is categorically different.
Palin actually reminds me a bit of Blagojevich. They both have good hair, a certain broad, irritating charisma despite their hamfisted public personas, and a love of adulation combined with seeming lack of interest in actual governance. Blago, despite being under indictment, seems a lot happier now that he's a semi-employed semi-famous person instead of, like, governor. Unfortunately, he stuck around until we had to kick his ass out. Palin straight went "rogue" instead of sticking around for the long slog of governing the socialist utopia of Alaska, and for that she deserves some begrudging respect for making a more honest living. She's been criticized for being a quitter; a nicer way of putting it would be to say that she had the self-awareness to bail. Now she's rich, and Alaska has a governor who theoretically wants the job. It could be much worse.
The McCain campaign cynically used her; she cynically used them; forget it, Jack, it's DC. Will she run for president? Only if she stands to benefit. Will she win? No, not even the Republican nomination. "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Sarah?" She beat you to it. How do you solve a problem like the political media? Read a book, or a blog, or something.
Comments (3)
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Whet Moser's perspicacious analysis only serves to remind us why Chicago is not taken seriously on a world basis. Chicago politics has always been regarded as a stage upon which even the dead can find a voice. Now, we find that even the smarmy living from that august burg can parade inanity for the entire planet to chortle over. Well done.
The good news is you are not alone out there in the Windy City. The flood of anti-Palinism has become so loud (not to mention ignorant and profane) that folks can barely hear you over the rest of the duck bites that are clogging America's media like hair in the sink. Based on this response alone one can only conclude that she presents a nightmare level threat to the looney left. If Palin was really as trivial, inane and inconsequential as the liberal press is painting her, she'd be off the radar screen.
But here she is, and the death beams are trained in full. She turned Naomi Wolfe into a misogynistic bigot and showed the nation why MSNBC is in the ratings toilet. She proved that Oprah, who can't be counted on to be open during an election is altogether thrilled to use Sarah to boost her ratings when there's no longer anything of import at stake. What courage. Chicago can find even more pride in their favorite daughter.
And you guys wanted the Olympics?
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Alaska, now that's a place where the citizens of the world take their politicians seriously! I mean Sarah Palin runs around espousing "small town" values that are being extinguished by the free trade policies and globalism that are part of parcel of both democratic and republican platforms. Isn't that ironic? Who can take any of that stuff seriously?
@Fatdaddy
"A person on the Internet who wrote something I disagree with appears to live in Chicago; therefore Chicago cannot be taken seriously on the world stage." Gotcha.
And if you'd ever been to this site before, you'd know that not all of us in Chicago wanted the Olympics. Try nosing around in the Reader's archives of TIF and 2016 bid coverage if you really want to work up a good froth.
