August 30, 2008
Palin as VP: Is This a Joke?
Technically, Yes
The choice was certainly unexpected, which is the first element necessary for humor. Even before I had read about her politics, all I could think was that the woman was a PR nightmare given her nasal voice, quasi-Minnesota accent, and the video played incessantly by all the networks, wherein she says she has no idea what the VP does. This creates incongruity with the idea of a serious candidate, and thus, more humor.
After finding out her credentials, things didn't get any less funny. In fact, the British press quickly began to poke fun at her, calling her a "gun-toting beauty queen." The fact that the rest of the world thinks the choice is funny is more proof that this is a joke, technically speaking. It's also a relief to know that US politics have made their usual good impression on the rest of the world.
So seriously, what the fuck was he thinking? Well, I suppose that's obvious: he was going for the women's vote. God bless Samantha Bee's commentary last night for exposing the underlying logic of the decision with crystalline clarity. Calling herself a "vagina-American," she claimed that McCain understood that "women don't vote with the big brain, they vote with the little hood." Colbert, too, hit the nail on the head when he declared that this was a historic moment because "women had reached the highest levels of being used in a transparent political ploy."
I have to admit, the only thing that that worries me is the Republicans' impressive record of cold-hearted, demographic-driven victory. If this choice was approved by GOP advisors, I fear they know something we don't; what looks like a transparent grab for the women's vote may actually reflect some deeper demographic matrix that they have calculated. If, on the other hand, this is McCain being a maverick and just choosing whomever the hell he wants without GOP approval, I feel a lot better.
But, just as I argued for Obama's veep choice, I think that McCain's choice could produce some excellent parody in the next couple of months. The British have already gotten us started with the phrase "gun-toting beauty queen." I'm sure we can all imagine what that would look like in terms of broad satire. And just as with the Biden-Obama ticket, the Palin-McCain ticket looks like a buddy movie waiting to happen. Or, as John Stewart hinted when he "accidentally" introduced Palin as McCain's third wife, maybe it will be a romantic comedy. Who knows.
