PALIN PHENOMENON

Notes of Concern……
…..Jackson Blair

The Palin Phenomenon

I am not at all concerned about Sarah Palin.

Are you?

Really?

Here is a quiz for you.

Do you remember Ross Perot?
Do you remember George Wallace?
Do you remember Ed Muskie?

And here is the real stumper: Do you remember William Miller?

Each of these folks garnered about as much, or more, attention than Ms. Palin.
Each of them could count their supporters in the hundreds of thousands, maybe millions.
Each had for a moment in time a real shot at national office.
None of them won their race and are now in the “do you remember” games.

On the positive side, Ms. Palin is an attractive, energetic woman, who succeeded in what is largely thought to be a man’s world up there in Alaska. She could hunt and fish with the best of them, manage a dog sled, gut a deer, and still look attractive. She was feisty. In America we like feisty. She took on a lot of the “good old boys” and “whipped” them.

Be realistic. Didn’t you always think a guy who loved to be called a “maverick” would lean toward someone like Sarah Alaska as a running mate? As we say today, they really bonded. Anyone deserving the title of political prognosticator should have seen that team before it was announced.

The failure for Sarah is found in her own book and from observation and was that Sarah Alaska didn’t take the analogy far enough. She did not understand that the “maverick” would not be taking any advice, any suggestions, any encouragement, any ideas or any independence from his running mate.

The failure for McCain was in ever thinking that Sarah Alaska would be submissive, subservient, quiet, and keep to her knitting. He wanted her hunting, riding herd, snowmobiling. She wanted a say on policy positions, itinerary, and visits to television shows in the big cities.

I do not side with those who treat Ms. Palin lightly. She has a lot for which to be proud. She has a lot of ability. She seems to be fun to be around and she seems to have an unending supply of energy. Many people throughout the land relate to her. Even if all I have said is absolutely true, bringing it all together in one package does not make a winning presidential candidate.

Now we are in 2009 and McCain is still in the United States Senate. He is still wealthy. He is still getting paid and he can look forward to a tremendous retirement.

Sarah is no longer Sarah Alaska. She came to believe her own “PR.” Somewhere down deep she thinks there might really be a run for the presidency in her future.”

My message to Sarah is this:

Collect the big bucks for the book.
Collect the big bucks for speaking fees.
Continue to look like you might be a candidate for as long as you can get anyone to buy into that.

Because at the end of this particular rainbow there may be a pot of gold in the form of advances and fees but there will be no White House address for Sarah Palin.