I caught Sarah Palin's new reality show last night and to those who fear that it will be the rocket boost that propels her into the Presidency, I would say, "fear not."
"Sarah Palin's Alaska" may sound a bit pretentious as a title, but it was probably a better choice than the alternative, "My Own Private Wasilla."And while I found the show to be entertaining (the "new" KCET would probably be lucky to have shows with high production values like this) it really wasn't very political.
Rather than enhancing Palin's image as a Presidential contender I thought she came off looking a bit paranoid in at least one respect. That would be over her concern that a new neighbor, author Joe McGinnis, had moved in next door reportedly for the purpose of writing a book about her.
If Palin's story was that McGinnis was "spying" on her, the narrative clearly didn't match up with the images as the cameras only captured McGinnis sitting on an upper level deck reading a book and evidently oblivious to any cameras or anything else that was going on below. If anyone was "spying" it looked like it was Palin's film crew.
Alaska has spectacular scenery and you could do a lot worse if you want to blow an evening watching TV than observing the adventures of Sarah.
But as a Presidential vehicle? If the story of a woman out to conquer the wilderness is an expedient way to enhance one's political cred, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, would have been our country's first female occupant of the Oval Office.
© 2010 by Craig Smith and www.craigsmithsblog.com
