Victim of Culture

Ignoring Sarah Palin is like ignoring Transformers 2

It seemed nothing could knock Michael Jackson from the top of the news heap, but Sarah Palin managed it.  This is actually the second time in the past year she has managed to steal headlines from a charismatic black man (well, Michael at least used to be black).  However, much like with Jackson’s media frenzy, one has to wonder why anyone cares about her as news?

Yes, there’s the obvious argument that the 24/7 news networks need a new story like her and artificially inflate interest, but the public went right along with it.  Soon blogs were posting stories on the news and people were having polite (and sometimes impolite) dinner conversations about her.  So, why care?

It was shocking of her to resign at this time, but her resignation does one of two things.  It either sets her up for a 2012 presidential run, or it destroys any chance she had at one.  Either way, most Americans have already for the most part made up their mind at this point about her.  Most Democrats will not vote for her regardless if she quit early as she did or served out her entire term, and some Republicans will vote for her regardless of what she does.

But there’s been frenzied debate about her motivations.  Was there a scandal brewing that she tried to duck out of?  Is she doing it to begin campaigning and raising funds early?  Who cares?  Sarah Palin will do what she does.  Resigning early is unlikely to win her new fans, but also unlikely to cost her too many.  It isn’t like she ran off to Argentina with a mistress!

But the public is fascinated with the woman.  They either love her, or love to hate her.  There’s little opinion in between.  Such polarizing figures people love to consume news about because it simply feeds their respective view.  If you’re a Palin fan resigning seemed like a brilliant strategic decision that will put her ahead for the election.  If you hate her, well, you still hate her.  This just seems like another example of her minimal intellect.  In many ways, Palin resembles the Transformers 2 of politicians.  Plenty of people hate her, but she’s still wildly successful with much of the population.  Oddly enough, depending of your view of her, you will read that analogy in wildly different ways.

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