John McCain just found his new attack dog, and I think we’ll all want to get bitten.
When McCain first announced Sarah Palin, I thought she was a terrible choice, imagining some grizzled old Alaskan woman who would serve as a poor Hillary substitute. A week later, I’m pretty close to convinced that Palin is a huge asset to McCain, precisely because she is his Obama, just as Joe Biden is Obama’s McCain. The tickets are even, and Democrats are furious that Republicans have someone just as telegenic and spunky as their man.
Palin is gorgeous, as evidenced by all the elderly delegates wearing buttons with some variation of “Hottest VP” on them. She looks like the grown-up version of a friend of mine in Washington, another state beauty queen, who also made the 50 Most Beautiful People in Capitol Hill newspaper The Hill. Yet when Palin savages Obama as an unaccomplished community organizer, it’s like watching Reese Witherspoon in “Legally Blonde” take down her smug, self-satisfied ex-boyfriend in law school. How can you be mad at a woman who says the only difference between hockey moms like herself and pit bulls is “lipstick”? Democrats can mouth the typical platitudes used by both parties that she’s a partisan hack, setting a negative tone when Americans just want effective governance and bipartisan cooperation. But Palin is as entertaining as Obama is inspiring, and I think Americans enjoy both. Bipartisanship is great when you’re stuck, not when you’re trying to get acolytes. Palin is Ted Nugent, not the Jonas Brothers, and guess which rock star we’ll still remember in 5 years?
Leslie Stahl from “60 Minutes” once recounted that Ronald Reagan’s media maven Michael Deaver thanked CBS for a critical report about Reagan, and she had asked why. Because of the shots of Reagan in his cowboy-style clothing on a ranch. “People don’t pay attention to the words,” he reportedly said. If you’re on the fence between Obama and McCain and don’t have any strong policy preferences between them, Palin’s adorable jabs may be enough to push you over. As my friend and LA blogger Jeremiah Lewis said of Joe Biden’s strength on the Obama ticket, “gravitas = boring old man.”
She’s certainly not going to convince most Hillary supporters or Obamaniacs, but Palin gives the base a full-body orgasm with her sexy-librarian-crossed-with-Ted-Nugent persona and makes CNN’s female hosts swoon despite her supposedly “shrill” delivery. If the Obama campaign tries to label her as just another hack, a homespun Alaskan retort from behind those sexy glasses will surely follow.
I’m a tech journalist who’s making a TV show about a college newspaper.