Why Won’t She Go Away?

That seems to be a common complaint about Sarah Palin. She lost and still she is getting so much media coverage.

We’re hearing the old saw: Well, if the public didn’t have an interest in her she wouldn’t be getting so much media coverage.

Good try, but the public does not control the media. To use one example, in spite of the plethora of channels on the TV, news shows are on channels controlled by large corporations. They are not mom and pop public access deals from someone’s basement.

Someone told me once that popular songs become hits because they are played so often. Pretty soon, they are the tunes you can’t get out your head; then the tunes you have to buy.

It’s the same in politics. Free publicity gets you attention. Attention gets you interest. And it goes from there. There are very few taboo crimes which damn politicians.

I don’t know where the Sarah Palin saga will end. I do disagree that she is a recruiting poster for Democratic votes. In a parliamentary system where she would have much less power, perhaps. But except for the very occasional third party candidate who garners an influential amount of votes, the 50-50 chance of her ilk capturing the presidency is a nightmare thought.