Sarah Palin: Nothing In Politics Is Stranger Than This

Nov. 21, 2010 - PRLog -- It’s beyond obvious that Sarah Palin is not going away in any way, shape of form, and despite whatever frame you use, political, TV commentator, TV show star, Mom, author, etc., it’s clear that the Republican Party has a problem that cannot be solved by logic, truth or strategy, and for now anyway, it is a GOP problem but could turn into America’s problem.

While some in the Republican Party are thrilled that Lisa Murkowski, the Alaskan Senator who will win reelection to her Senate seat as a write in candidate after losing her primary to a Tea Party/Palin backed Joe Miller, they are facing two problems there.  First, the GOP, trying to play the game the way it is supposed to be played by insiders had asked Murkowski not to run as a write in candidate, but were secretly thrilled that she did and as she is about to celebrate her victory as only the second write in winner for the Senate in 50 years.  It looks like Murkowski’s victory is a slap to Palin and the Tea Party, and a victory for the Republican Party who does not like Sarah Palin at all. But Sarah Palin will not be harmed by this as pundits are suggesting, again defying logic.

We can blame John McCain, but I don’t believe even he realized what he was creating when he stupidly offered Palin the national spotlight, but no matter how it happened, the Palin Problem is here and the first tier of dealing with her is a Republican problem, for now anyway.

We find ourselves analyzing a half-term Governor who quit her job because the financial reality of quitting was very attractive to her.  There was something about her that was new, refreshing, and different.  What many of us saw was more odd, weird and scary, to keep it simple, but that’s where this all gets a bit Twilight Zone for me.  Cue the music because we find that a great many conservatives in this country are kneeling at the Palin alter even though she has proven to be a quitter, a continual liar, someone who understands shock value and is proud to utilize it, is a master media manipulator, and at the heart of it all an opportunist who is getting richer by the day for creating a new found sense of hatred and has perfected a delivery method that transcends reality, just defying logic and it’s just straight out unexplainable.

And it is clear that traditional Republicans don’t like her at all.  Karl Rove, a Republican master political operative, has made it clear she has not only doesn't have the intelligence to be presidential, but her ideas are too extreme even for him.  Former First Lady Barbara Bush, who has never been at a loss for words, was clear in a CNN interview taped to be aired this weekend that Palin would do well to stay in Alaska.  Most serious contenders from the GOP who are now considering a run for the White House in 2012 don’t even want to discuss her, and most telling of all, the most visible supporters of the Tea Party rarely mention Palin as they are trying to grow that movement.  Yet here she is, about to have a second book in less than one year become a best seller, Her A&E show, Sarah Palin’s Alaska, a mammoth ratings hit, and her speaking fees now easily in the high five figures and there isn’t one serious Republican who supports her agenda or her potential run for the White House.

So what gives?
She is an anomaly.  Even her daughter Bristol’s unlikely stamina on the popular television show Dancing With The Stars has become the fodder of political Blogs because her Mom obviously has coattails that reach beyond the political arena.

Sarah Palin has proven time and time again since the 2008 election that she is not smart enough on foreign policy.  That her stance on domestic policy is mostly focused on message and not content.  That she has become a master at turning a phrase that resonates with less educated voters, and to top it all off, her wealth is being created by the same people who are being harmed by policies and protests against that would help them most. Is it simply because she is smoking hot to look at?  I didn’t really want to write that, but it makes one wonder, doesn’t it?  

I mean I know pretty women get away with a lot, they really do.  And she is pretty after all.  Maybe it’s harder for some people to be outwardly honest about her because they harbor some kind of fantasy that I don’t want to write about.  Maybe for women she represents what they wish they were.  She is bold, I will give her that.  She sounds confident, I will give her that.  She does have a sense of humor, I will give her that even if I don’t find her sense of humor in line with mine, but all things considered, I cannot explain her at all.  Can you?

Right now she is a GOP problem and this will be one of the few issues I am more than willing to help them on if I can.  After all it’s clear they don’t want to deal with her in the political arena, and recent polling proves that the majority of traditional (read non radical) Republicans are not Palin fans, but she has that uncanny knack of doing the unexpected and it’s not the Republican Party that she has to appeal to, it’s voters.  

My hope is that she loves the money and attention and that she will realize that she can become wealthier by not being a candidate for anything.  I’m hopeful that her obvious greed will continue to drive her to become a kind of pretty Ann Counter, if you will, but I’m not afraid to admit that this broad scares me.

If she has proven one thing it’s that the normal rules of politics don’t apply to her.  Most any other time in the history of the country she would have been a Trivia Pursuit question by now but she somehow lifted herself above all of the normal stuff to become the poster child for Right Wing hatred and lies, and she’s selling it better than anyone would have ever predicted.  I want to write that strangers things in politics have happened, but she actually is the strangest thing in politics that has ever happened, here’s to hoping it stops soon or else.

# # #

Tony Trupiano is a former national syndicated progressive radio talk show host, author, and a former candidate for Congress. He is also a nationally recognized media trainer. He can be reached at tony@mediatony.com and can read his Blog at http:/? www.mediatraining.me and is a contributing editor at http://www.chattahbox.com .