I NEVER expected I would say this, but I feel sorry for Sarah Palin.Although I love the humor that I find in her interviews and in the mocking of her interviews. (I especially love the SNL bits, her address with Hilary, and her interview with Katie Couric. The real newspaper clip from the interview question is here.)
Joking aside, there's part of me that squirms each time she is criticized in a harsher way than another politician. Although her gaffs have made me smile, and her ill-prepared responses have made me cringe, I do feel her pain.
Sometimes I have the same pain.
Sometimes when I speak during a board meeting for the AZ Hemophilia Association, and I become self conscious, remembering that I'm the youngest person there, without an advanced degree or a career. As I start to doubt myself, I begin to falter. Instead of focusing on what I'm saying I begin to think, "Don't mess up. Don't sound like an idiot." But, of course, like someone suggesting, "Don't think of a pink elephant." I do. I mess up and sound like an idiot. I can tell that I've done this when the pause at the end of my comment is longer than necessary.
For me, however, the mistakes are local, the conversation moves on, and no one, politely, says anything about my lack of eloquence.
Not so for Palin. And perhaps, rightly so. She is campaigning for the second highest office in the land. An office, we have been continuously reminded, that is one 72 year old's heartbeat away from the President of the United States. Subjected to scrutiny and criticism, she seems determined to be tough and on-message. (I can almost hear her chanting to herself in her head, "Stay on message, stay on message.")
This leaves me torn. I don't want to see her bashed up and down with lines like this, "We are all stupider now for having heard [her answer to an energy question]." Perhaps I'm misremembering, but I don't think Bush was treated like this when made equal, if not bigger campaigning mistakes. "I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family." —Greater Nashua, N.H., Jan. 27, 2000 (Listen to audio clip). While he was the butt of jokes, I don't remember any malice in the words, tone, or facial expressions of TV personalities (Note the look of utter disgust on Cafferty's face at the end of that clip). I see it more with responses to Palin. Perhaps it really is misogyny. Or, perhaps she's treated the same and I'm perceiving it differently because she's a woman.
Either way, I have softened my stance on Palin. While I don't not want to see her in office because I disagree with her politics and worldview, think she lacks experience and judgment, I do want her to be treated decently in spite of her seriously flawed interviewing skills. It's not that much to ask.
Addendum:
After more reading, I've realized how ridiculous it is that she hasn't had ANY press conferences, only 3 interviews (and we can see how poorly those went) and she's possibly going to be the VP? It's a little outrageous. Perhaps that is why the media is so upset, because she's being so cloistered.
