Sarah Palin and the Media Limelight

It now appears that Sarah Palin, the newbie politician who has somehow wound up on the Republican ticket as Vice President, is now not only more popular that John McCain but is getting more popular than Barack Obama. Which is not bad going for a person who just weeks ago was a complete non-entity.

The question that screams out at me, though, is "why?" Why is there do much focus on Palin? Yes, she is photogenic (relative to the likes of McCain, most people are) and yes, she can make a half decent speech. But she has less experience that Obama, her political ideals are similar to those of the utterly reviled George W Bush. Reviewing her CV and politicial positions, she should be about as popular as a bout of explosive dysentry. Yet she is the darling of the US media. She is being treated like the Second Coming of... well, of Barack Obama.

So why all this attention? Well, the Palin story is an interesting story. Plucked from obscurity, pushed into the national limelight - it makes for damn good copy. But the reason why the Palin star is shining so brightly at the moment is also because, well, her story is new. And it is newer than the Obama story; that story is now a little bit old and tattered around the ages. This shows why politicians who were once media darlings are now languishing in the shadows or finding themselves being eclipsed by brighter, younger political types.

Think about Hillary Clinton. At the beginning of the decade, the story that the First Lady might become President was dynamite. It was exciting; more importantly, it was new. 8 years later, all the novelty has gone from that narrative. It is about as new and exciting as a Discman. And one of the reasons why she failed to win the Democratic nomination - ignoring her increasingly shrill and demented public image - was that her story was now less exciting that the Obama story. The former First Lady becoming President was old news; the charismatic, young black Senator fighting an underdog campaign to become president was far more novel.

Likewise, the reason why McCain was (until recently) languishing behind Obama in the polls was because his story is old hat now. Yes, McCain's history is simultaneously striking, heart-breaking and interesting - and he has achieved a lot more in his (albeit much longer) life than Obama. But we've been hearing stories about McCain since 1999/2000 (his first bid for the Presidency) - and there are only so many times that those stories can be rehashed. When you have the newer story of the charismatic, Kennedy-esque black Senator to write up, well, that story will always get the nod over the endlessly told McCain biography.

Which is why McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as Vice-Presidential candidate is a genius piece of media manipulation. She has removed the focus from Obama by having a newer story that the Obama tale. Obama's "journey" has now reached saturation point in the media. Palin is a breath of fresh air that the media is latching onto.

Now, you can shout against this mindset - Lord alone knows I want to, but that is something for a different post - but the simple fact is that the media is focussed on the newest story. At the moment, Palin is that story and Obama is suffering as a result.

Of course, this election is far from over and it is more than possible that Obama could still grab a sizable win. However, that isn't going to happen if he lingers on simply being Barack Obama. That is old news now. Likewise, he isn't going to turn it round by talking about pigs in lipstick. He needs a real, eye-catching headline grabbing moment to turn the tables and take the shine off Sarah Palin. He is more than capable of doing this if he realises that this is what he has to do.