It's come down to this. I swear to God, this is what Rick Sanchez said on CNN earlier this afternoon: "Does Sarah Palin going on 'Oprah" signal the start of the 2012 presidential campaign?" Somehow I missed that article of the U.S. Constitution -- is it before or after the section about the electoral college?
Anyway, I wasn't able to watch the Palin-Oprah gabfest, so I can't really comment on her style or much of the substance. I do know, from the endless news accounts and dissections on talk radio, that these are some of the things that were aked and talked about during this supposed opening salvo in picking a possible 45th president of the United States. The questions included several about the wayward father of Palin's grandson, Levi Johnston, and his appearance in Playgirl, what it was like being interviewed by Katie Couric, a lot of inside-baseball, backstage machinations with the McCain campaign, work-life balance, even the state of her marriage -- anything, apparently, that wasn't the State of the Union.
Some of the responsibility falls on Oprah Winfrey, obviously, as the interviewer -- although in fairness to Oprah I'd note that a) she was giving her daytime, apolitical audience the gossipy red meat it tuned in to hear and more importantly b) she asked Palin questions that were substance-free because ever since the last imploding days of her campaign for vice president, Palin herself has been pretty substance-free, walking away from a governor's job that could have been an incubator -- albeit a risky one -- for new policy ideas and then writing a book that certainly isn't making news for any new ideas for making America a better place for its citizens.
It wasn't always this way. Check out the topics the first time that a presidential candidate appeared on an entertainment-oriented TV show, when John F. Kennedy went on NBC's "Tonight Show" with Jack Parr in June 1960, as recounted by Frank Rich:
On June 16, 1960, Senator John Fitzgerald Kennedy, in a natty suit, sat next to the brilliant and much-mourned Jack Paar on NBC's ''Tonight Show'' and fielded more than 30 minutes' worth of questions from his host, the droll comedian Peggy Cass and the New York studio audience. The subjects were the U-2 incident, the failed Soviet summit, Cuba and ''the Catholic question.'' Mr. Paar tried to elicit a laugh only once, asking the senator to recall amusing anecdotes from the primary campaign trail. Kennedy was stumped, and when his one example (''I was made an honorary Indian'') landed with a thud, the two men scampered back for safety to the cold war.
Is it a slam dunk that things were so much better in the good old days? Not totally; as Rich points out, the interview went too far to the other extreme of dullness and earnestness, and the format allowed JFK -- who was eager to prove his policy heft to a nation that was worried he was too young for the White House -- to offer dry, canned answers. Still, you'd like to think there's a middle ground here in 2009, that there'd be some room in an hour-long interview for at least a little chatter about the nation and the world, and less about this endless soap opera that could be entitled "Palin Place."
Unless maybe this really wasn't the kickoff of the 2012 presidential campaign, after all.
Watch Jack Parr JFK in Entertainment | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com
Comment removed.
why is the left so obsessed with palin?— bobbyd24- Comment removed.
- Poor Sarah. It's Couric's fault that she looked like an idiot during the interview. It was McCain's fault that she looked like an idiot throughout the rest of the campaign. It is the fault of those meanies in the press that she weighed down the McCain campaign like an anchor. Poor, poor Sarah.— Talking point sleuth
- .....and let Palin Derangement Syndrome begin again in earnest.— camtheman
- If JFK was around today, he'd never get elected. That guy made Clinton look like a monk.— JSaq
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
- SBVFT Contributor: you seem kind of weird and obssessive, and stalkerish.— whsmith
- Yeah, I was thinking that too. Googling his/her name? Checking out their profile? Looking for them on Twitter? Suggestion: obtain a hobby ASAP, like 10 minutes ago (besides logging on to routinely criticize the same ideas / authors). And this comes from someone who also thinks Dbop's comments a little off-putting.— donnybrook
- LOL! Someone who googles the screennames of Attytood posters calling someone else a loser. That would qualify as "ironic" even by bryanc's standards.— Talking point sleuth
- Comment removed.
- Comment removed.
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
E-mail Will by clicking here.
PLEASE COMMENT WITH PASSION...
...but not with racial slurs, potentially libelous allegations, obscenities or other juvenile noise. Such comments will, at our discretion, be deleted in their entirety, and repeat offenders will be blocked from commenting. ALSO: Any commenter advocating killing any government official will be immediately banned.
Thanks.
- Atrios
- Kiko's House
- Suburban Guerilla
- Booman Tribune
- All-Spin Zone
- Philly (Dragonballyee)
- Afro-Netizen
- Rowhouse Logic
- MyDD
- Bad Attitudes
- Billmon
- iFlipFlop
- CorrenteWire
- upyernoz
- Tattered Coat
- Fables of the Reconstruction
- Slacktivist
- Citizen Mom
- The Next Mayor
- Philly Future
- Philadelphia Will Do
- Philebrity
- Young Philly Politics
- Phillyblog
- Welcome to Phillyville
- Phawker
- A List of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago
- Keystone Blog
- Philadelphia - America's Hometown
- BlankBaby
- Above Average Jane
- Phillyist
- Metroblogging Philadelphia
- The Clog
- Josh Marshall
- Daily Kos
- Juan Cole
- Oliver Willis
- Andy Borowitz
- War and Piece
- Wonkette
- BuzzFlash
- Raw Story
- Cursor
- Crooks and Liars
- Swing State Project
- Kevin Drum
- Talk Left
- AmericaBlog
- Hullabaloo
- Mad Kane
- Think Progress
- Jesus' General
- The Carpetbagger Report
- Majikthise
- Echidne of the Snakes
- David Sirota
- Glenn Greenwald
- TBogg
- Fire Dog Lake
- Taylor Marsh
- Matthew Yglesias
- Jon Swift
- Drudge Report
- Beer Leaguer
- The 700 Level
- Dick Polman
- Balls, Sticks and Stuff
- Shallow Center
- Philling Station
- Phillies Nation
- A Citizen's Blog
- The Good Phight
- Romenesko
- Editor and Publisher
- Pressthink
- Buzzmachine
- The Inksniffer
- Media Bloodhound
- Eat the Press
- Mickey Kaus
- Media (Huffington Post)
- Blinq
- The Corner
- Instapundit
- Andrew Sullivan
- Free Republic
- James Taranto
- Blonde Sagacity
- ScrappleFace
- Blogorrhea
- February
- January
- December 2011
- November 2011
- October 2011
- September 2011
- August 2011
- July 2011
- June 2011
- May 2011
- April 2011
- March 2011
- February 2011
- January 2011
- December 2010
- November 2010
- October 2010
- September 2010
- August 2010
- July 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- November 2009
- October 2009
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- January 2008
- News | Sports | Business | What's Happening | Restaurants & Food | Entertainment | Living | Marketplace | Jobs
