The Media Equation
Drawing a Bead on the Press

By DAVID CARR
Published: September 7, 2008
Before Gov. Sarah Palin came flying in from the wilds of Alaska for the Republican convention in St. Paul, there was a lot of sniggering in media rooms and satellite trucks about her beauty queen looks and rustic hobbies, and the suggestion that she was better suited to be a calendar model for a local auto body shop than a holder of the second-highest office in the land.

Palin Family, via Associated Press
Sarah Palin and one of her daughters with their salmon catch in Alaska, in a family photo supplied without further information.

Ms. Palin, unwilling to be rendered as a caribou-skinning cartoon, stepped to the microphone on Wednesday and punched back.

“I’ve learned quickly, these past few days, that if you’re not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone,” she said.

“But here’s a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators,” she continued. “I’m not going to Washington to seek their good opinion — I’m going to Washington to serve the people of this country.”

When she was announced as John McCain’s running mate, I told my wife that the governor had no idea what was about to hit her. By the time she was done speaking, I realized the reverse was precisely true as well.

She was a huge hit in the room and beyond. Ms. Palin, a woman who clearly understands the power of words, had a way of pronouncing media — “MEE-de-ah” — that made it sound like something legless and slithering.

Taking a whack at the media is a well-thumbed page in the convention playbook — and with 15,000 of us on hand at both conventions, it’s tough to resist. But while Ms. Palin may be unfamiliar to the hosts of Sunday morning political shows and to readers of the letters page of The Washington Post, to readers of a whole other kind of media — particularly women’s magazines — she represents the ideal blend of femininity and toughness, mother and mayor, good girl and governor. As the saying goes, “She’s just like us.” Only better.

Excerpt

As seen on the web:

"I thought this artice was pretty well balanced so I sent the following message to David Carr:

“David, thanks for your balanced report on Mrs. Palin. Conservatives don’t expect praise only from the media, but we do want truth and we want all candidates held to similar standards and vetting. I am grateful that your report appears to meet these criteria. Even if not all can agree with Sarah’s political or social positions, isn’t it clear that that she is a remarkable woman, probably representative of many, many others who balance work and family. Can’t we all celebrate that?”

He responded almost immediately with the following:

” I think her choices — with five hungry kids, I personally would have never fired the chef — will resonate huge with the public. we have not seen the likes of her in national politics.

thanks for kind note.”