Monday, September 29, 2008

The Palin honeymoon is over...

When John McCain first announced that Sarah Palin would be his running mate, it looked like the act of a madman or a genius. It was a high-risk strategy that appeared to be paying off, if the opinion polls were anything to go by. My heart sank.

Sarah Palin seemed to represent everything that your average, Christian, racist, gun-toting, small-town American stood for. Even when it was revealed that her unmarried 17-year old daughter was up the duff (embarrassing, given Palin's opposition to sex education in schools) her approval rating was unharmed. She's just like us, people seemed to think.

Then she opened her mouth:


Hopefully the honeymoon is over and the Americans will now see sense, but don't bet on it. George W Bush was, after all, elected at least once.

Amusingly, the Saturday Night Live team decided to do a parody of this interview, but in the end felt that it would be far more amusing to repeat Palin's comments verbatim:

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for posting this. Extraordinary!

John Self said...

You'd like to think so, wouldn't you? I'm pretty sure though that George Bush gave some not-much-less-incompetent interviews and was still elected - and he was no heartbeats away from President.

The one upside of the financial crisis is that it - rather than a Palin backlash - seems to have given Obama a clear lead in the polls, for now. Let's hope it lasts.

Richard de Pesando MA(RCA) said...

Alas, on Radio 4 last night the commentator was convinced that the financial issues that rock America now would eventually precipitate a Republican Win, as a way of pandering to the insecurity of most American - and that the next election would be between Pain and Hilary Clinton.

Most alarming is that the strain of the campaign is already taking its toll on John McCain - he looks exhausted now - can you imagine what he will be like in a month? My fear is that Palin is already far LESS than a heartbeat away from the prize.

Steerforth said...

Yes, you're right John, although I'm not sure if we can truly say that Bush won the 2000 election.

Richard - I've also been worrying about McCain's health. His jowls are taking on a life of their own and will soon be able to make separate appearances. He can't be long for this world.

George Bush might not be the sharpest knife in the draw, but at least he was in the unique position of being able to get expert advice from his dad. Who's Palin going to phone?

The Poet Laura-eate said...

I think she may be a fembot. God Save America from her is all I can say.

Ollie said...

Yes, Steerforth, marvellous stuff!

But, of course, ladies shouldn't have to trouble their pretty heads with macro-economics, even if they are running for the White House.

America already has enough super-intelligent, extremely well qualified male financial geeks to screw up the world's economy!

JRSM said...

The problem is that the US has a history of electing know-nothing numbnuts: remember Quayle? And look at Bush. The stupider you are, the more you seem to identify with the common American, alas,