My “ultra-conservative till since the Great Wall” (his words) neighbor unveiled his new bumper sticker this morning to me. “Sarah all the way, baby!”, he exclaimed with a big grin on his face. “What happened to McCain?”, I asked. His reply:
McCain who? All my wife and I see is Sarah Palin. She can run with Donald Duck for all I care!
I’m almost 35 years old. I voted in my first presidential election back in 1992 (Ross Perot). So I haven’t seen (from adult eyes) many elections. So I asked this to the older and wiser crowd, has a vice-presidential pick has ever caused such a reaction from supporters (in that they look at the VP candidate as bigger than the Presidential candidate)? I live in a predominately Republican neighborhood in Georgia (homeowner’s association meetings are like McCain/Palin rallies). And these Republicans are positively fired up to the nth degree like many other Republicans across the nation.
People have wrote and spoke about the “Palin Effect” numerous times in newspaper articles, blogs, and on television. But I want to take a different angle on this: does this prove even more the American Idol influence/effect in America? Barack Obama has been “accused” many times of being a celebrity and I agree. He is a celebrity (not necessarily a bad thing). And to pull from my earlier post here about celebrity (via Wikipedia):
A celebrity is a widely-recognized or famous person who commands a high degree of public and media attention. The word stems from the Latin verb “celebrere” but they may not become a celebrity unless public and mass media interest is piqued. For example Virgin Director Richard Branson was famous as a CEO, but he did not become a global celebrity until he attempted to circumnavigate the globe in a hot air balloon.
Sarah Palin’s celebrity status here in the States almost rivals Barack Obama’s celebrity status at home and abroad. Just like American Idol, it doesn’t matter who’s a good or bad singer. It’s about who is more popular. And that popularity translates into many of the show’s less-talented singers becoming overnight celebrities. Now I’m not judging the skill set of Sarah Palin. But when I see a staunch Republican flip the Republican ticket and basically “Donald Duck” John McCain, I really wonder how much more of a role celebrity will play in presidential election politics.
I’m not complex. Don’t have time for all that. And all that complex stuff bad for the stomach. Just color me simple and plain with a twist.