Sarah Palin's Alaska

Recently Karl Rove, the former senior advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to George W Bush was asked whether Sarah Palin has what it takes to become President of the United States.

He replied:

"There are high standards that the American people have for the presidency and they require a certain level of gravitas. With all due candor, appearing on your own reality show on Discovery Channel, I am not certain how that fits in the American calculus of 'that helps me see you in the Oval Office.'"

Me? I think “Sarah Palin’s Alaska”, this reality show, is an example of marketing genius.

Just like Obama harnessed the power of the Internet and Twitter in his campaign, the Palin camp has been able to do a half-hour weekly promo and call it a reality travelogue. Kudos. I am genuinely impressed.

Obviously, I disagree with Mr. Rove. I mean, Ronald Reagan started out as an actor. He hosted “Death Valley Days” and starred in “Bedtime for Bonzo” OPPOSITE A CHIMP and yet was perfectly acceptable to the American people as a Presidential candidate. Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared in films as “Conan”, “Terminator”, and the world’s first pregnant man, but was still elected quite handily, twice, as Governor of California. So clearly, a history of “gravitas” isn’t strictly necessary to get elected.

On “Sarah Palin’s Alaska”, we get to see the beautifully filmed grandeur of Alaska; Sarah Palin as a wife and mother who really cooks for her family and genuinely interacts with her kids; and some subtle, and some not so subtle, Palin political or moral messages.

Take for example when she points to the 14 foot high fence that her husband built to block the prying eyes of a neighbor. Mrs. Palin remarks:

"I thought that was a good example, what we just did. Others could look at it and say, 'Oh, this is what we need to do to secure our nation's border.'"

I would be willing to bet that if this series had aired before the last Presidential election, John McCain would be President today because “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” does a better job of promoting Mrs. Palin than the Republican election machine did. The program shows the Vice Presidential candidate and her family rafting, kayaking, climbing, fishing and interacting as a family unit, enjoying the country she may still hope to lead.

I especially love the skeet-shooting scene where Sarah says to her daughter Bristol: “Don’t retreat. Just reload.” What a great line. The NRA will love it. Hawks will love it. Heck, I love it.

Sarah Palin could spend as much money as what’s-her-name; you know, the former head of EBay who spent over $100 million dollars of her own money to try and get the governorship of California and lost. And even with all that money, Palin would never get as much good publicity as this series gives her. This is marketing genius and whatever else you want to say about Sarah Palin, you have to admit she has learned a lot since she received John McCain’s endorsement as his VP running mate.

Should she be elected President in 2012 or 2016? Is she qualified to lead the country? That is yet to be decided. But there’s no debate that this show is doing more for her image and likeability than all the politicking and speechifying that a candidate with “gravitas” would be doing in her place.