This is why Palin is the most honest "politician" we'll ever see. I put politician in quotes because she defies all definitions of the modern politician. She is not one. She's a citizen and public servant trying to do the best for her country.
Imagine if Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee had the opportunity to do a show like Sarah Palin's Alaska. They probably would take every opportunity to show how awesome they are, how they would be such amazing presidents, how they never make mistakes and are always right. They would try to smooth over and explain some of their past mistakes such as RomneyCare and Huckabee's Infamous Pardons. They would try to appeal to the largest audience as possible by projecting themselves as center-right politically. They would try to makeover their image in the most electable way possible.
However, we see Palin on her show attempting to climb a portion of Denali being scared out of her mind. It took her 45min to make one small step upward when she was unsure of where to place her feet. Later in that episode we see Todd able to scale that same portion in about 45 seconds. We see her kids fighting in the back of the RV, we see the Palin family in their commercial fishing business, and the traditions of cleaning the fish (blood and guts) with Todd's grandmother. We see Palin hunting and skeet shooting. These are all things that other candidates would never show, never. They would never be seen holding a gun, or cleaning fish on a table outside their grandmother's home - never. They would never show their kids as being anything other than perfectly well-behaved children. Track was featured trying to take over the family business and not really getting off to a good start. He slept in, broke the trailer and left it in the driveway, etc. To me that was very real. It looked like what every family in America who has a small business goes through when their children are transitioning to take it over. But Romney, et. al. probably wouldn't feature any kind of struggles like that because they would be afraid of how it affects public opinion and electability.
Politicians and pundits on the Right and Left have criticized her for being too conservative and unelectable in her image. They think she should be more generic, not do a television series, not have her daughter be on Dancing with the Stars, not hunt and fish - all so as not to offend "independents and moderates." What does Sarah do? She goes all-in showing her true life, fish blood and guts included. She basically says "I don't care what they want me to do. I'm going to follow my heart." She's taking this opportunity to show America who she is. This show will appeal to Independents who don't take the time to research or read her books. It's easy to watch TV, and it's entertaining, so those people will definitely be able to be amazed by her easily just by watching every week.
And I think that's why she's been criticized for doing this show. You know all the potential 2012 candidates (including Obama) would kill to have her show. They're so jealous. But they know that (1) they will never be given that chance because they're boring as dry wheat toast; and (2) if they did, no one would watch it and it would be an epic flop. So they fling mud. Meanwhile, Palin is just gaining more popularity by being herself and showing her true life unapologetically.
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