By Ben Voth
One of the more awkward realities of this election is Governor Sarah Palin. Her selection as the Vice Presidential candidate for Senator John McCain’s bid to the White House has electrified America. By electrified, I mean it has torn the nation in half– those in euphoria over her populist appeal and those apoplectic about her alleged ignorance.
It is convenient to pretend that Palin’s rhetorical effects are easily divided as a partisan difference between Democrats and Republicans. The problem is not, however, so neat. Republican partisans have attacked and mocked Governor Palin in terms not unlike their Democratic counterparts. Kristol, Krauthammer, Parker, Powell and Noonan are but a few of the prominent Republican partisans taking shots at Governor Palin. Despite the broad agreement among the pundits– and perhaps because of it– Palin remains an intimidating political juggernaut.
Palin’s rallies continue to attract tens of thousands of people while Biden and Obama struggle to draw a thousand. Palin’s presence at the Vice Presidential debate garnered the largest viewing audience in history– more than 80 million people. The viewership surpassed all other audiences for the Presidential debates. When governor Palin appeared on Saturday Night Live this weekend– the ratings which had already been rising in response to parodies of her by Tina Fey– skyrocketed again to reach levels not seen in over a decade by the comedy TV show– 17 million viewers. In her appearance, viewers literally got to see her rock the house in the SNL studio. The audacity of her presence stood in stark contrast to Chevy Chase’s command a month ago for Tina Fey to ‘destroy this woman’ with her power of parody. Fey has dramatically promised to leave the planet if Palin succeeds.
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