Tea? We Shall See

When Sarah Palin left her position as the governor of Alaska last summer, every other American breathed a sigh of relief. They believed she had drawn a line under her political career; instead, it was the beginning of a new, more aggressive Palin campaign that, for the most part, has continued uninterrupted since then. She received a fixed spot as a commentator on Fox News, released a book, recorded a docu-soap about life in Alaska’s wilds, and has, within two years and without any great effort, contrived to make national news every time she writes something sarcastic about Obama on Facebook or Twitter.

Palin is seen unremittingly on American television right now, and not only on the benevolently inclined Fox News. On the contrary, it is the left-wing TV channel, MSNBC that gives Palin the most attention (They have mentioned her nearly three times more often than any other TV channel, according to a new analysis). This is, in part, due to wishful thinking: The American left has nothing against Palin’s becoming the Republican’s next presidential candidate because they do not think that she can win.

Palin has had difficulty shaking off her deeply polarizing role in American politics. While Obama, with varying success, talks about compromise and bridge-building, Palin is more cynical. Broadly speaking, she says: There are actually two different Americas. They don’t agree, and it’s about time you choose sides. It is a rewarding image for a media star who wants to attract viewer numbers, but it doesn’t work so well as a national message for a presidential candidate.

Together with her influential Fox News colleague, Glenn Beck, Palin has even become the face of the right-wing populist tea party movement. Ideologically, they come from different directions. Beck has a libertarian past, while Palin is a consistent conservative. But the two are united in their opposition against Obama, Democrats, the political establishment in Washington and what they perceive to be the liberal elites on both coasts.

The populism they advocate can seem contradictory. They say, “Help us fight the elites in Washington and on Wall Street!” At the same time, they advocate an economic policy that, for the most part, favors those who already have the most. But in the U.S., populism is seldom about redistribution of resources but rather about cultural factors.

The sagacious right-wing debater, David Frum, wrote recently: “American populism has almost always concentrated its anger against the educated, rather than the wealthy. So much so, that you might describe contemporary American politics as a class struggle between those with more education than money against those with more money than education: Jon Stewart’s America versus Bill O’Reilly’s, Barack Obama versus Sarah Palin.”

It is, therefore, the Republicans and, in particular, Sarah Palin, rather than the Democrats, who have been better at riding the wave of populist anger that has characterized the country since the economy collapsed two years ago.

Since Palin made her entry into the national arena in the U.S. two years ago, she has eagerly portrayed herself as a champion for all American women, even though few women agree with her (the majority of Palin’s supporters are men).

In her new docu-soap, “Sarah Palin’s Alaska,” she has succeeded, in any case, in breaking new ground for female television stars. We get to follow the former governor as she and her family wander round the wilds of Alaska. They fish, hunt and put up a tent in pouring rain. In the latest episode, we got to see Palin shoot a moose.

The program is one way for Palin and the viewers to live out ancient American wilderness fantasies. She stands out as a female equivalent to the mythical Daniel Boone, the wilderness pioneer from the early days of the U.S., who is seldom portrayed without a newly shot, fur-bearing animal, nonchalantly slung over her shoulder.

“Sarah Palin’s Alaska” has had declining viewer numbers in recent weeks, but Palin is still a fantastic drawing card for the American media. The charge behind her media presence corresponds precisely with the mystery surrounding her political future. Will she offer herself as a presidential candidate? There are many indications that she may, even if the Republican establishment has expressed mixed enthusiasm. Her approval ratings do not look particularly promising. A large majority of Americans do not think that she is ready to be president. Even conservative voters are skeptical. Fewer than half of those who call themselves tea party sympathizers want to see Palin as a presidential candidate. In the three opinion polls taken in December, she is behind Obama by an average of 19 percent.

Until something dramatic happens with Palin’s voter sympathies, it is perhaps not the Democrats who should be most worried about Palin’s advance, but rather the poor moose, deer and salmon in Alaska’s mountains and rivers.

As Palin wrote in her first book, “Going Rogue” : “There’s plenty of room for all Alaska’s animals – right next to the mashed potatoes.”