The Political Fiend

This afternoon Politico broke a story that shouldn’t really be a shocker to anyone that understands Sarah Palin’s role within the McCain campaign. First, her role: Attack Dog Barbie Doll. Now the story. Apparently the McCain campaign has been spending a shit-ton of money dressing, primping, preening, and accessorising the would-be veep. We’re talking somewhere in the neighborhood of 150,000 bones, or clams, or whatever. Again, not surprised.

In recent weeks male Palin supporters have been showing up to her rallies wearing t-shirts and buttons reading “I’m voting for the hot one”. Offended? Not Sarah Palin, she takes it in stride. And why not? She’s being hailed by the right as a new kind of feminist: one who balances being a mom, a politician, and totally hot. She was McCain’s last ditch effort to attract women voters, fire-and-brimstone conservatives, and, apparently, horndogs everywhere.

In the eight weeks or so since she hit the national stage, Ms. Palin has said relatively little outside of her pre-scripted talking points, and has fared poorly in her two major network interviews. In recent days, Palin has adopted the role of attack dog, and has served as the foil through which McCain’s negativity has been [ineffectively] bounced toward Barack Obama. None of this is breaking news. Anyone who watches thirty minutes of network news per week can figure that Palin isn’t good for much, except looking good, being snarky, and fucking up her lines.

Hence the big budget duds. How much do you figure the McCain camp has spent on tutors to get Ms. Palin up to speed on world affairs? A helluva lot, I’d wager. How much do you figure Joe Biden’s wardrobe allowance is? How much do you figure McCain is trying to overcompensate for Palin’s shortcomings? Palin is a Barbie. McCain vetted her for maybe a couple weeks, at best. She represents John McCain’s underestimation of every woman in America; an attempt at a sleight of hand that, according to recent polling, just isn’t working. John McCain can throw 10 million bucks at Palin’s wardrobe for all I care. Put a silk hat on a pig… and, well, there you go.

Photo by the News Hour used under a Creative Commons license