Palin Perplexes Me...

I have always been a little perplexed by Sarah Palin, lo and behold, she does it to me again. Recently she announced that she will not seek another term as Alaska's governor. Initially some thought that it was a segueway to her run of 2012, but then i hear whispers of criminal investigation. Nothing is confirmed so lets not concentrate too much on that. But i think its important to note that in a report from MSNBC they inferred that Palin generally hasn't been opposed to working with a lot on her plate.

The fact that she didn't turn over her state to the lieutenant governor is puzzling, in a way (as the clip references Clinton and Bush). Perhaps this contributed to her lack of thorough knowledge on critical and eminent topics. In an article on NYTimes.com Ross Douthat cites statistics and writes "In a recent Pew poll, 44 percent of Americans regarded Palin unfavorably. But slightly more had a favorable impression of her. That number included 46 percent of independents, and 48 percent of Americans without a college education.

That last statistic is a crucial one. Palin’s popularity has as much to do with class as it does with ideology. In this sense, she really is the perfect foil for Barack Obama. Our president represents the meritocratic ideal — that anyone, from any background, can grow up to attend Columbia and Harvard Law School and become a great American success story. But Sarah Palin represents the democratic ideal — that anyone can grow up to be a great success story without graduating from Columbia and Harvard."

When i couldn't put a finger on it, Douthat transcribed what i couldn't quite verbalize. With all the opportunities she has been afforded she seems to always be ill-equipped, and every time i look for her redemption moment she botches another situation. I will never knock anyone's potential but at this moment in time she is in over her head. Maybe running Alaska doesn't quite prepare one for the national stage like sayyyyyy, New York. Now I hear rumors (albeit BET) that she has talk show suitors, although they did not mention a specific type of show, do you really want a presidential candidate one day and a talk show host the next; the two professions seem as close as two positively charged magnets. She is just a walking enigma, for me at least. I generally love well rounded people but she seems to not have much of a handle on any of her trades. Maybe that last statement is too sharp because i thought everything was running just fine in Alaska prior to 1o months ago.

One day I would hope that Palin sands those edges and tailors her position and offerings to the world. But for now the dubious legend of Palin still leaves me scratching my head.