Although I think far too many electrons have been sacrificed in discussing the phenomenon known as Sarah Palin, a situation is coming down the pike that perhaps merits a few glucose molecules being burned to think about.

Personally, I’ve tried to avoid the furor surrounding Governor Palin, but since I watch the Science Channel and the Discovery Channel more than almost all other stations combined (yes, I’m a geek, but I have an excuse, I’m a Physicist), I’ve been inundated with promos for her show “Sarah Palin’s Alaska”.  There has been a fair amount of commentary on various blogs regarding her “campaigning by reality TV”.  I don’t know if the series has veered in that direction since I haven’t watched any of the episodes to date, but I do know that all episodes have to receive approval from Governor Palin.  What I find of interest is the episode to be broadcast this Sunday features Governor Palin going hunting with her father, and the promo shows her aiming a rifle at a caribou while playing ominous sounding music.

As a reference point, I grew up just outside of Memphis, Tennessee, in a suburb across the state line in northern Mississippi.  I had relatives who lived in rural western Tennessee, and it was a Thanksgiving tradition when we visited them that my father and I would go hunting on the family land.  I have no problems with hunting when done  properly, using guns the correct size for the animal to be killed as quickly as possible to minimize suffering.  Also, while I do not currently own any firearms, my father owned several, and I’m a fairly good shot with 45 caliber and 9mm semi-automatic handguns.  By no extent would seeing someone hunting bother me if they were being ethical.

Let’s get back to discussing the television show.  Since Governor Palin has final say on what goes into each episode, it’s reasonable to assume that anything on the show is consistent with the image she wants to project.  That image seems to have morphed slightly since she was a part of the Republican Presidential ticket in 2008 from a “hockey mom” to a “mamma grizzly” with a corresponding shift in impressions from “running mate” to “aggressive leader”, and this appears to play very well with her base of supporters.  The outdoor activities featured on the promos for her show are consistent with the “mamma grizzly” more than the “hockey mom”.  The implication in the latest promo is that in the course of her hunting with her father, she at the least shoots at a caribou.  I know this is speculation, but let’s suppose she hits it cleanly and kills it.  The question arises is how will viewers who are not necessarily her supporters react?

The reason I am wondering is because while hunting is a widespread activity, there are a large number of people who seem to think meat comes in styrofoam trays wrapped in cellophane and not from a large mammal that had to be killed and cut up to provide that product so antiseptically displayed.  The sight of a political candidate shooting and killing an animal, and continuing down the speculation path, watching as she dresses (see definition 14) it might be unsettling to those whose closest encounter to that type of work is the butcher in their local grocery store.  Now, I’m sure that many among those unsettled would under no circumstances be supporters of Governor Palin in any future election, but I wonder about those who would have been on the fence.  Will they be turned off?  Those who have never been exposed to the reality of where meat comes from are often heard to say “I’m becoming a vegetarian” when they see an abattoir for the first time.

If Governor Palin is using “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” to create an image in preparation to running for President, she may have miscalculated by going too far in the “mamma grizzly” direction that appeals to her base.  It will be interesting to find out what is shown in the program, and what the reaction to it will be.

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Cross-posted to Random Fate.