The audio of the telephone call from “Nicolas Sarkozy” to U.S. VP candidate Sarah Palin, actually a pair of comedians from Canada (Montreal comedy duo Marc-Antoine Audette and Sebastien Trudel, known as the Masked Avengers) impersonating President Nikolas Sarkozy of France, has been spreading virally over the internet. It’s actually very funny and over-the-top but a bit scary too, as it reveals the loopy side of Palin everyone has been warning us about, naive bordering on nuttiness. In the conversation, she agrees that going hunting with the fake Sarkozy would be “fun” and by doing so they could “kill two birds with one stone“, meaning tackle matters of state while killing animals. It casts into sharper focus her rawness and inexperience for high office. That the pranksters were able to string her along for so long, and that she never actually caught on until the faux Sarkozy owned up to the joke, speaks volumes about the quality of leadership the U.S. can expect from her, if ever.
But this could work to her advantage too. The poor woman actually comes across as well-meaning and vulnerable, if you listen to the conversation a second or third time. You begin to feel sorry for her. Until you come to the chilling slip that reveals the extent of her ambition. Asked if she intends to be president someday, she immediately says yes, “maybe in eight years“, thus confirming suspicions that she is not ready to step off the stage whatever the outcome of the presidential race will be. Even now, she is already planning a post-McCain political future, in the likely event that the Republicans lose.
I suspect that those who sneer at her now for being so gullible are already pro-Obama and had previously written her off and that she actually gained some sympathy votes among the undecided.
And incidents like this could keep her in the public consciousness longer, no matter that she looks dumb now. Recall that Erap Estrada actually played up his supposed cluelessness by spreading his “Erap-tions” , which endeared him to the public. They actually found him more human and accessible, which could also work for Palin.
And she has a bedrock constituency which will be around long after candidate McCain, or even a President Obama, fades from the limelight , namely white, working-class Americans. She’s still relatively young. Eight years is not too long to wait. As Newsweek observed:
For all her problems now, Palin has the biography, the ideological sympathies and the charisma to be what the Republican Party lacks: a populist, far-right politician with intense celebrity appeal.
Sarah Palin could still have the last laugh.
Updates: Gov. Palin returns to Alaska to chants of “2012“. She now has national stature, despite sniping from the McCain camp about how she ultimately proved to be a liability.
Open animosity between Palin and the McCain camp, in part because of built-up anger among some McCain aides who say Palin had become more interested in her own future than in McCain’s election.
Palin having the last laugh is a scary thought…
She will not ride off into he sunset after the elections, P.L.S. Watch out for more of the unfolding Sarah Palin saga.
She’s more of a one-hit-wonder, just for the purpose of *this* election only. She doesn’t seem to posses the aura of a party icon similar to that of Al Gore or Hillary Clinton, for example, or that of revered party figure like Reagan or any of the Kennedys. She’s not even in the league of John Kerry or Newt Gingrich, certainly not intellectually as shown in the campaigns. And she even sounds more to the right of even Dick Cheney which makes her almost to the fringe, on the far right, hardly the faction that could spring her or anyone else to national executive office. She’ll probably head back to Alaska and rule the politics there. But its doubtful if she will gain significant stature and influence as real leader of the Republican Party.
It seems she won’t just fade away, Capolegis (see update). This despite the apparent strained relations between her and the McCain camp. When she returned to Alaska on Wednesday night after the Republican loss, she was greeted at the Anchorage airport by chants of “2012! 2012!” Asked by reporters if she might run for president, Palin said, “We’ll see what happens then.” After having tasted the political limelight, she’s not inclined to look back.
I probably spoke too soon in counting her out. I overlooked the fact she’s already a national figure (talk of missing the obvious) and that through massive PR campaigns their party can recast her image into a moderate.
If the Republican Party decides to make her their leader, she’d be constantly supplied with moderate talking points with which to critique Obama policies over the years thus maintaining her presence in the national discourse and building a solid name recognition.
But then still that’s a big If because there will be other politicians, savvy and smart, who will eye the party leadership too and will also make their presence felt in the national scene. The party might look to them instead.
But you’re absolutely correct, Sarah Palin won’t just fade away.
Dear Friends, Happy Fool’s Day!!!
Two elderly couples were enjoying friendly conversation when one of the men asked the other, “Fred, how was the memory clinic you went to last month?”
“Outstanding,” Fred replied. “They taught us all the latest psychological techniques – visulization, association – it made a huge difference for me.”
“That’s great! What was the name of the clinic?”
Fred went blank. He thought and thought, but couldn’t remember. Then a smile broke across his face and he asked, “What do you call that flower with the long stem and thorns?”
“You mean a rose?”
“Yes, that’s it!”
He turned to his wife “Rose, what was the name of that clinic?”
Happy April Fool’s Day!