Sarah Palin’s reality show filmed an episode with Kate Gosselin of … that family with eight kids. TLC clearly wanted to play the inter-show shenanigans card, and I think Sarah is incredibly endearing in spite of the whiney nebbish Kate Gosselin plays.
I have to say, I really enjoy Palin’s reality show, it’s a nice way to highlight her personality without being muddied by the lens of her opposition in the media. What do you think of it?
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Advertisement for Alaska aside, I expect the show will go a long way toward de-demonizing her, at least among those willing to watch a few episodes.
Dear Professor
You put it well. Put me in the camp of those who think she is establishing a "brand" and doing it well. Timing is everything. If she is serious about running at some point she will need to start associating with serious "wonks" and crafting the brand to include serious policy thoughts and plans. She has a little time on that. I think she can be an "overnight" revelation if she plays it right.
@Spartan, thanks but it was Kathleen who posted it (yes, I know it's confusing, but look at the bottom of the posts and you'll see who is the culprit).
I think it's brilliant.
Sarah is simultaneously boosting interest in Alaska and showing the world who she really is when all the propaganda is swept aside. And, in comparison to Kate, she also shows us who she's not, as in: not a quitter, not a shrinking violet, not a media creation and definitely not a whiner. (Seriously, Kate, you're a grown woman and you whine more than your children do.)
She's also able to reach a new demographic, namely people who wouldn't dream of turning on Fox News but don't mind nature documentaries and reality shows. Karl Rove's irrelevant blathering aside, the woman's a straight-up marketing genius!
Oh, and @Spartan: Dude, if you honestly don't think Sarah already has 'serious policy thoughts and plans,' you haven't been reading her books. Or her FB page. Or watching her interviews. Or… 😀
Thanks Kathleen!
Whom would YOU rather call mom? I pity the Gosselings.
The show reminded me of the Parent Trap:)
A situation that has enduring appeal. Can do wins out every time.
For what is a woman what has she got
If not herself then she has not
To say the things she truly feels
And not the words of one who kneels
The record shows she took the blows
And did it her way
Also as Salon so snarkingly puts it:
"Good Morning America's" painfully friendly interview with Sarah Palin"
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2010/12/17/sarah_palin_gma/
The reinvention of Sarah Palin by the media is underway. Why? Because she sells and sells like no other personality. Each time her name is mentioned there is a Saralanche.
Also, for the wonks and wanna be wonks, shades of Herman Kahn:
"New START recognizes a link between offensive and defensive weapons – a position the Russians have sought for years. Russia claims the treaty constrains U.S. missile defenses and that they will withdraw from the treaty if we pursue missile defenses. This linkage virtually guarantees that either we limit our missile defenses or the Russians will withdraw from the treaty. The Obama administration claims that this is not the case; but if that is true, why agree to linking offensive and defensive weapons in the treaty?"
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/255568/senate-republicans-vote-no-new-start-sarah-palin
I absolutely love it! It's the highlight of Sunday night TV. I'm not certain it will change many minds. The Palin-haters will always find new reasons to hate her. Their biggest fear is that Sarah Palin can't be bought, so they have no leverage over her; they can't control her.
Yeah, Sarah may talk a little funny (lacking the Southern drawl I prefer in women) but what scares the bejezzus out of the left is that she can relate to people as if she lived next door to them. And she is smart, but not a product of some tony university.
Funny how liberals quickly forget that some of their favorite presidents did not come from some tony, Eastern university; Lincoln, Truman.
But I'm a strange bird; I'll take plain good common sense over a degree from Harvard, any day.
I like the show a lot on several levels. I know of no one in politics who can "connect" with people the way Sarah Palin can. If I were advising her, I think a series of issue-oriented radio addresses (like Reagan's) would be the perfect complement.
I loved the episode of her out hunting with her Dad and their buddy. The interaction was great and I enjoyed the geography lesson. (really)
I think you're playing us.
Spartan, your ignorance is showing. Go to Palin's Facebook page, WSJ, NRO, and you'll see that Palin has a lot of serious policy statements. She's always ahead of the curve. So, all the condescension is merely misplaced ignorance.
I just don't watch reality shows. The few times that I have watched them they just don't do anything for me.
I liked what Palin said on O'Reilly about being out camping with Gosselin… that it shows life is 10% what happens to you and 90% what you make of it.
trackback: http://oneofnine.from-ny.net/node/56
What makes the show work for me are those brief flashes of attitude that reveal what makes Sarah tick. In the first episode, the family is practicing rapelling on the porch and the girls have a hard time getting it down. Silent, unpretentious Todd nails it on his first try despite never having done it before evoking an under-the-breath comment from Sarah (while rolling her eyes in frustration) that went something like "Naturally Superman nails it on first try." She is very competitive and it IS her show.
Anyone who watches that show and can't warm up to her is simply determined to hate her no matter what. I have serious reservations about her true politics myself but DO like her and hope that she is not a stalking horse for the GOP establishment. Her refusal to distance herself from McCain and his policies is very disturbing, for instance.
She appears completely comfortable in her own skin and comes off as someone who sets her mind to do something and then does it.
I like the show. It's a little campy at times but Palin shows she has dirt under her fingernails and that's something we could really use in the leadership now instead of these prissy delicate-hand Ivy League types (who've screwed up everything they've touched).
@ Professor – Sorry, I recognized too late that I had credited the wrong author.
@ Everyone else. I admit I haven't read everything Sarah has written nor have I watched every interview. What I have seen is long on generalities and short on specifics. Which is actually good. My point remains. She is establishing herself and her winning personality in an off-beat, unexpected and effective way. At some point, however, she will have to state a specific point by point plan about exactly what she intends to do and how she intends to do it. How do you handle the foreclosure mess, for example? I think it is too early now but it has to be done. I will be watching for it when the time comes.
The "no substance" Palin argument is wearing thin, as Palin has put forth her views and vision in at least as concise a way as any other potential GOP wannabe for President. So either the " ignorant", "dimwits", who are "shallow" are not reading Palin's position op-eds, or don't because Governor Palin"s views have merit that can't be challenged.
The other part of this equation is that Sarah Palin is a surrgogate for the majoirty Americans who "cling to their guns and religion" making an attack on Palin, an attack on the rest of us. And that, it seems to me, is very dangerous.
@Spartan
Why is Sarah held to that standard of "specifics" when no one else is? If you have read my comments over the past few months, I have serious reservations about Sarah too but I won't require that she jump over special hurdles that greater in number and higher than for others.
I want Sarah to prove out to be a reliable conservative. But until she clarifies her endorsement of McCain (and separates herself from his amnesty efforts) and clarifies her statement that she will run in 2012 unless the GOP establishment decides that she would be too disruptive, I see her as a stalking horse for keeping conservatives together long enough to redirect to whatever RINO survives the 2012 RINO stampede.
I really hate seeing her getting stomped by people who just hate her because….. I am looking for clarity and I need to be persuaded that she is not a starry-eyed rube from Alaska who has suddenly struck the big time and has some naive sense of gratitude to a cynical political clique that "made it possible".
@pasadenaphil
Good points. Her critics often say she lacks "specifics" in her positions. As I said, that is fine now because a specific plan would be torn apart by the "experts" this far out. I also acknowledge that her opponents do set hurdles for her that are ridiculous. I personally have no doubts she is a reliable conservative. She doesn't have to explain anything about 2008 to me and McCain is, for the moment, no longer pro-amnesty. He voted to kill the "DREAM Act" today. I have not heard her say specifically that she will run, what I heard her say is that she will not run if she feels running would cost conservatives the election. Again, it is too early for declarations of candidacy and there is lots of time for her to make a final decision. Your last paragraph rubs me the wrong way because there is nothing "starry-eyed" about this woman. She is not a "rube" either. She is a keen politician with a fine sense of tactics. To go back to our discussion, she will have to start talking specifics if she is to get elected and start getting us out of the mess congress has been creating since(pick your own date) 1974. Otherwise, if she gets elected, she flounders around like the current crew in the administration and congress. We won't be able to afford that in 2012.
Funny. I just happened to channel surf into this particular episode of Palin's reality show and, after reflecting on it, said to my wife: "I think I've had about enough of Sarah Palin."
And this from a man who was among the first to jump on the Palin bandwagon!
She's smart. She's gutsy. She's outspoken. She's conservative in a populist sort of way. She's one of us. But, unfortunately, she's a sideshow waiting to happen. If she runs for President I'm afraid the media will eat her alive. She'll be Christine ("I am not a witch.") O'Donnell writ large.
I hope Ms. Palin continues to stir the pot on the sidelines and does not run for President. The last thing conservatives need in 2012 is a sideshow that distracts from the serious issues we face.
I thought the most true and poignant part of the episode in question was the camera catching Palin's husband Todd off salmon fishing by himself, away from the ginned up spectacle of his wife's harping on the mystical wonders of family-camping in the rain.
I guess, as 2012 approaches, I'm sympathizing more and more with poor old Todd.
Well Sherman, as a blog surfer who just happened to glance at the comment thread after this gentle conversation-starting post by Kathleen (who endured quite a a beat-down from us Palinistas several weeks ago) I've reflected a bit myself and…I'll say to you: good riddance! We have had enough of phonies like you.
"She's smart. She's gutsy. She's outspoken. She's conservative in a populist sort of way. She's one of us. But, unfortunately, she's a sideshow waiting to happen. If she runs for President I'm afraid the media will eat her alive."
Now there's a smarmy summary worthy of a round on one of CNN's Palin Can't Win panels. Did Ed Rollins write that for 'ya? Hey, don't go spending all of Slick Eddie's Walkin' Around Money in one beltway bar.
I guess, as 2012 approaches, I'm sympathizing more and more with your poor wife, who must endure watching your true and poignant trolling of Palin posts, trying to gin up doubts using the tired and discredited memes of 2008.
Thanks, Dan. You just made my argument. Merry Christmas.