We've been flooded with publicity for Sarah Palin's Going Rogue, with large book signings and subsidiary press events (like the nude photos of Palin's former son-in-law-presumptive, now nemesis Levi Johnston). The memoir is on track for a fabulous sale.
Rightbloggers, as you might imagine, have plenty to say about it. Not
about the book's contents, so much -- not many of them seem to have
read it yet (though Governor Palin for President
approved of an alleged similarity between the covers of a Reagan book
and Palin's; "Coincidence? Surely not. Make no mistake, our lady from
the north is laying the groundwork and doing the homework necessary to
pick up the mantle of Reagan in 2012").
It's the publicity that has excited them -- and not the favorable publicity, either. As usual
with rightbloggers and Palin, even in her moment of glory (and great
personal enrichment) the big story is that Palin is being mistreated.
"Sarah Palin Demonized while Obama Walks on Water," said our obama nation. "She continues to call forth a deep and almost primal rage in her opponents," said neo-neocon. "Because Sarah Palin is an individual not made in Washington D.C. and not approved by the D.C. power players," said Bonzai: A Libertarian Blog, "she must be destroyed."
noted that "the anti-Palin reaction is not the first time we've seen
journalists fall victim to rage fueled by impotence" -- they'd done the
same with thing with the Power Line blog. And look where they are today!
Jay Tea
penned a long essay at Wizbang in which he described a "trend emerging
in American politics" toward "amazing hostility to the common people."
The common people he mentioned were the celebrities Joe the Plumber
("For Joe's impertinence of helping Mr. Big Shot make himself look like
a fool, he must be punished. No, he must be destroyed"), Carrie Prejean
("She, too, must be denounced and exposed and shamed and degraded" by
"a flamingly-homosexual, plagiarizing, crass beyond belief online
gossip columnist" and others on "the political left"), and Palin --
referred to as one who "like Joe, started from very humble beginnings"
and "like Carrie, at one point tried to use her appearance to advance
herself." She, too, has run afoul of "the enemies of the current ruling
elite" and "must be pounded down."
At Pajamas Media James V. DeLong
asserted that Palin's "qualifications to be president are objectively
better than those of almost anyone who has been on the national ticket
over the past decade," the sole exception being Dick Cheney. But she
had been "sandbagged at the outset" by "the biases of the political
class," and "called inexperienced because she had never gone on a
five-photo-ops-with-foreign-leaders-in-four-days tour."
Thus she was justified in resigning the governorship: "Why let herself
be tied down defending perjured ethics charges from people with
infinite money, whose only desire is to shut her up or bankrupt her?"
But her day will come: "The disillusionment with government among the
tea-partying middle class is so great that every attack on her builds
her stature on Main Street." Till then, there's always the best-seller
list.
The Palin publicity campaign combines major media appearances (Oprah Winfrey, Barbara Walters) with a tour of friendly jurisdictions
such as Dallas, Texas, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and Reno, Nevada.
Rightbloggers focused on the tour as a sign that she was circumventing
the liberal media channels. American Thinker's J. Robert Smith
saw evidence of her heartland appeal in her "Walmart Strategy" of
marketing the book. "She's not going to L.A. or New York, Boston or San
Francisco," he said (except for the TV appearances). "She's going smack
dab to the middle of the country. Fly-over country, liberals call it."
This Smith found "a strategy right out of the late Sam Walton's
playbook: go where there's demand and the competition ain't."
Thus, "Palin may just prove that a heartland strategy does more than
sell blenders and books," said Smith. "It's the foundation for winning
a national election." Public Secrets
agreed: "Ignoring the big cities and staking your claim in 'flyover
country' is a strategy that would have made Sam Walton smile." (A
different kind of Walmart strategy, of course, was effectively practiced by the Clintons, who sought support in that company's boardrooms rather than among its customers, though this was admittedly less mediagenic.)
There were as usual many references to the perfidy of the media that persecuted Palin, most spectacularly in the mini-controversy of Newsweek's cover photo of Palin in shorts. These were not the only persecutors rightbloggers found. "I find it abhorrent," said Gateway Patriot,
"that so called conservatives like David Brookes can call Palin a
'joke' when she is the only member of the GOP that has made a bigger
impact against the President."
Victor Davis Hanson
attacked feminists, who "are enraged that her can-do, have a Down's
Syndrome child in her 40s, shoot-moose persona will be used as a
paradigm of a liberated women. She is quite attractive, fertile, and
married to a Jack-Armstrong 19th-century man," whereas "doctrinaire
feminism" is "often whiny, and increasingly dominated by single,
childless shrill elites." And let's not forget Martha Stewart.
In all of this, the rightblogger consensus was that Palin is an
authentic American rather than a member of "elites," her former status
as a governor and Vice Presidential candidate, and newly enhanced
earning power, notwithstanding. This authenticity was seen as a source
of strength for Palin, and presumed to be (more than any political
disagreement) the inspiration of her opponents.
This was most spectacularly expressed by The Anchoress, who became enraged when a rather straightforward AP account
of a Palin appearance included quotes from Palin with dropped g's
("Alaska and Michigan have so much in common, with the huntin' and the
fishin' and the hockey moms"). Though Palin's folksy speech patterns
are thought to be part of her appeal, The Anchoress said this
transcription betrayed the media's "hate, their spitefulness and their
perpetual adolescence ... no other politician, except Bill Clinton (all
the time), Hillary Clinton (when she was pandering) and Barack Obama
(when he was pandering or playing) has ever dropped their g's while
talkin' to the crowd. ... To our rather well-paid press-folk, dropped g's
are indicators of low intellects, lower incomes and the lowest social
strata. Dropped g's are so uncool. Except when they're savvy
and slick. In the screwed up world of the press, fake dropped g's are
clever, and authentic dropped g's are campy." This diabolical phonetic
representation, The Anchoress maintained, was "backfiring on them, and
to [Palin's] advantage."
Palin currently holds a position similar to that of Al Gore: a
celebrity ex-politician who has rebounded profitably from defeat. What
she's going to do with her celebrity after this remains an open
question. Her general political appeal outside of her fan base is at present limited,
and it may be that she will play out her string as Gore has: as a
beautiful loser exploiting the devotion of fans to sell media products.
She has the added advantage of coming of age in the internet era, and
thus acquiring thousands of unpaid publicists on both sides of the
political divide.
Roy Edroso's Rightbloggers: Exploring the right Wing Blogosphere appears courtesy of our sister paper in New York City, Village Voice.
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