American Siren

She is the charmer of the American elections and her new charm is that Ms Sarah Palin retains much of the thrill which she enjoyed in her 20s, and most of the rhetorical skills which she has gained since commencing her program to transition from beauty pageants and sports competitions to politics and oil in that faraway state on the edge of the world, arriving at the White House.

Ms Palin is not yet 44 and she is the nominee to ascend to the American presidency should some mishap befall the aged Republican candidate John McCain (72) and prevent him from performing his duties. This is a perfect illustration of the strange way by which the American political elite, Republicans in particular, produce some of their new figures, qualify them to rise to power, and form governing strains to make decisions for the sole superpower in the world.

The Democratic Party has turned the process of launching leaders from outside the traditional establishment into a common phenomenon repeated in various presidential electoral, legislative, and executive battles, culminating currently with the black Democratic candidate Barack Obama, whose origins, class, religion— and whether or not he drinks beer— many Americans even today do not know, as stated in a press interview with him just last week. But with the Republican party, its leading figures have always been more designed not to clash with American general opinion; it has been the most conservative in selecting names from outside the closed political club, membership in which requires many years and sometimes decades of public work before attaining the first ranks… and in a moment all this was bypassed with the selection of Ms Palin, who jumped unbelievably swiftly to the first tier, and even perhaps to the first decision.

It is inconceivable that the young Republicans in Alaska, who accompanied Palin in her youth and accompanied her right wing extremism, are the ones who made her into a star, as stated by commentators on her first appearance at the national level in the party convention this week, where she showed her rhetorical prowess (which Americans value in general and consider a political advantage); nor is it conceivable to recognize that her experience as mayor of a small town in Alaska, then as governor for less than 2 years for that state, with a populace not more than half a million, has qualified her to attain this major nomination.

The scandal of her daughter Bristol (17 years), who appears to be pregnant by her 19-year-old boyfriend, could have ruined her political opportunity, had Obama not hastened to say that Palin’s family circumstances are a private matter not to be dragged into the electoral battle, forbidding his campaign from defaming the Republican candidate.

Democratic tolerance and Republican swagger might make Palin a legend, although she is merely a foot soldier. Her son will go to Iraq within weeks to celebrate the imminent victory, while she stays in Washington to oversee the laying of oil and gas pipelines from Alaska to the rest of the U.S.