Sarah Palin's Appeal to Media: Train Wreck Waiting to Happen

While many commentators in the main stream media pretend Sarah Palin's appeal to her political fandom is her freedom loving, down-to-earth persona, (despite recently racking up millions with her best-selling book, hefty speaking fees and fat contract with Fox, you can still picture running into Sarah at Walmart, picking up Pampers or acquiring ammo), political columnist Debra Saunders revealed on Howard Kurtz's Reliable Sources yesterday the media's deep dark secret motive for hanging on to Sarah Palin's every word. The "Woman from Wasilla" (as Howie called her) is a train wreck waiting to happen.

A conservative columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, Saunders went so far as to compare Sarah Palin to Britney Spears, both of whom Saunders characterized as lacking talent. The two women are unpredictable, you never know if Britney is going to show up at a gas station with no underwear or if Sarah will show up at a $100K speaking gig with notes scrawled on her hand, like those a third grader might scribble to ace a spelling test.

Though both Debra Saunders and Sarah Palin are darlings of the conservative movement, the two women couldn't be more different. Debra Saunders is the anti-Sarah. Although physically attractive she makes no attempt to appear sexy, unlike Sarah Palin who plays into male fantasies with her clothing and hairstyle choices and curious winking habit.

Whereas Deborah Saunders emanates unscripted intelligence (she would not have to write the words "energy" or "tax" on her palm to remember them), Palin attended about a dozen colleges (give or take) before getting her bachelor's degree and couldn't cite a single publication she read when interviewed by CBS anchor Katy Couric (an infamous Palin train wreck incident, in which Sarah Palin gave the odd response to Katy Couric's question about what newspapers and magazines she read, "All of them... any of them that have been in front of me all these years." (Only in Alaska do newspapers and magazines magically appear in front of one, as if by some Bewitchian magic.)

Although Saunders at first tried to downplay her attack on Palin on yesterday's episode of Reliable Sources, citing Palin's most recent crib notes train wreck as making the media look like "bullies in junior high school," she went on to reveal her true feelings about the Fox commentator and alleged potential 2012 presidential candidate. "I don't consider Sarah Palin to be a serious political contender," Saunders said frankly. "It's sort of like the way the press covers Britney Spears. It's not because she's talented, it's because she's a train wreck and they like to kick her when she's down."

When Reliable Sources host Howard Kurtz asked Saunders why the media treats Sarah Palin as a serious contender for president in 2012, despite the fact that a recent poll showed 71 per cent of Americans surveyed stated she was not qualified to be president, Saunders reiterated, "It's like they treat Britney Spears like she's a big talent. They like her because they like to make fun of her."

Fellow panelist and political commentator Keli Goff, who blogs for The Loop 21 and The Huffington Post, agreed with Saunders that Palin can be a media pundit's best friend. "Sarah Palin is actually one of my favorite political figures," admitted Goff, "for a very selfish reason. As a member of the media there's nothing I love more than a political figure who refuses to be handled and marches to the beat of her own drummer."

A political figure who refuses to be "handled" is code for a political figure who is likely to implode at any moment. The media is a minefield of reporters and columnists hungry for scandal, a dangerous "place" for all but the most seasoned politicians, among whom Sarah Palin is not. In the meantime, Sarah Palin will continue to be a rubbernecker's delight among the media and many Americans who eagerly await the next train wreck to distract us from the more serious (read boring) news of the day.

Sources:
Reliable Sources, CNN, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010
Katy Couric interview of Sarah Palin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRkWebP2Q0Y