The Huffington Post is not known for its objective take on issues. John McCain is not exactly their favorite candidate and they make no bones about telling you this on every screen.
Nevertheless, there's some interesting conjecture in here.
Bear in mind that John McCain is very likely to die in office, so Sarah Palin is truly a heartbeat away from the Presidency. I find the "Evita" comparison quite intriguing.
Politically, Palin nee Heath and Peron nee Ibaguaren are worlds apart (all the more so since the latter's in the next world). But the two women have much in common. Both came out of nowhere--Palin from tiny Wasilla, Alaska, Eva from the slums of Junin--to assume positions of great power that nobody thought for a second either was qualified for. There's a memorable couplet from the Lloyd-Webber/Rice musical Evita that comes to mind:
Her only good parts are between her thighs
She should stare at the ceiling, not reach for the skies
Both worked in media (Palin in television and as a newspaper reporter; Eva in B-movies and radio). Sarah, like Eva before her, arrives as the protege of a much older man. Sarah, like Eva before her, carries the blessed curse of populism. The Republicans see in Sarah Palin the pioneering spirit of America, much as Argentines of a certain provincial background venerated Eva Peron. And, most interesting to me, Eva Peron is still accused of all manner of evil more than half a century after her death. The lies started early and they were vicious. To this day most people believe, thanks to Evita the play and movie, that Eva Duarte slept her way to the top, that she bankrupted the country, that she was a fascist and a thief who only pretended to care for others. Most, if not all, of this is patently false.
Eva Peron was no saint, but she was not a monster either. Most of us human beings are somewhere in the middle of the continuum.
You're hearing things about Palin, too--vicious, nasty things. They trotted out infidelity right early (always a killer if it can be proved and you're a woman); there's been a concentrated attack on every remotely controversial thing Palin's ever done as mayor and as governor. Hey, people? Governing anything is going to generate controversy. And nothing they've come up with so far to stick Sarah with has explained away that 80+ percent approval rating. Obviously she's been doing something right.
Republicans have been quick to exploit this. The 80+ percent of people who approved of Palin as governor are, of course, "our kind of people". It's that damned elitist 20% stirring the pot. This, too, has a ready comparison in the story of Eva Peron. Most Argentines loved her, adored her, almost worshipped her...but the ones who didn't absolutely despised her.
It must be said that Peronism as a political movement certainly had its unsavory aspects, including a silencing of dissenters. A cult of personality sprung up first around Juan Peron, then, much more strongly, around his wife. Such things are hard to control and do not always come about as a result of an act of will. But it's only natural to try to exploit them. If you didn't believe in Peronism, the party line went, you were not a true Argentine. I hear echoes of that in the words of Ed Kains, Palin's pastor, who has said that all criticism of George W. Bush comes "from hell". He's not sure whether Democrats can be "saved", either. (Where do Republicans find these kooky pastors, anyway? I can fall into Christian patterns quite easily, and I defy the Kains and Hagees of the world to show me in their Bibles where it says salvation depends on one's political views. It terrifiess me that there are millions of so-called Christians in middle America who accept this bullshit.)
I digress.
What can be said without doubt is that Peron was the first woman to fuse celebrity and politics.
Sarah Palin is much in that mold...more than one article I've read has lamented that people are inclined to vote for Palin the way they'd vote for somebody on American Idol. Well, why not? More people vote for every Idol than ever vote for President. It often seems to me in our celebrity obsessed age that people actually think reality shows are more real than reality...sad, but true. Eva Peron can almost be said to have started this whole trend with her pan-European "Rainbow Tour" combining aspects of Amazing Race, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and Queen For A Day.
I'm quite interested to see how Palin fares in the debate with Biden. I'm guessing that (a) she'll do better than she's expected to and (b) it won't really matter anyway.
(A) Palin is a neophyte, but she hasn't gotten where she is by dumb luck alone. She can toe the Republican party line effortlessly--she really believes in this stuff--and I've no doubt she's getting intensive coaching on the finer points.
(B) Palin can spout lies--like that Obama plans on raising taxes for everybody--without consequence, because everybody does that nowadays and most people don't even bother to check the facts. Also, she's got that hockey mom charisma on her side. Middle America will just eat her up...hey, Martha, that Sarah woman looks just like you! And she could be vice-president! It's that Eva Peron, rags-to-riches story all over again.
Wolf takes great pains in the article linked above to make Palin into a Rove-puppet. While taking her thesis under advisement, I'm not sure I agree. I'm sure that many people, not just Rovians, see in Sarah a tabula rasa on which they can write their wildest ideas. But it should be noted that Sarah Palin has her own beliefs and moral code (not that I agree with much of it). Palin--like the spiritual leader of the Argentine nation--isn't a saint. But she's not a monster either.
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