The Abyss Between Us...

by Prioleau Alexander
(South Carolina)

The 2007/2008 War for the White House.

There are those that say it’s the worst race ever, and those that say it’s the tightest race ever, and those, like me, who say it’s pretty much politics as usual: My Guy, Yea! Your Guy, Boo!

There is, however, one new phenomenon in this year’s race that baffles me — And I can say with confidence it’s a new phenomenon in American politics. I’m speaking of the left’s searing hatred of a vice-presidential pick, Governor Sarah Palin.

Where does this come from? What is it about her that inspires such white-knuckled rage? I’m a conservative, and I think Barack, Joe Biden, and runner-up Hillary have goofy political ideas, but I don’t hate them.

I’m happy to admit, in fact, that they are all smart, ambitious, inspiring to their followers, and savvy. I also admit to finding them to be elitist, affected, racist, and narcissistic, but I don’t hate them. It takes a lot to inspire that emotion in me.

But Governor Palin?

If you have access to the Internet, you already know what I’m talking about-- there is fury amongst tens of millions of Americans at the mere mention of her name.

According to these haters, she’s not just "dumb," she’s "an embarrassment." She’s not just "unqualified," she’s "proof that John McCain is an idiot." She’s not just "deeply religious," she’s a "close-minded, hateful bigot."

You betcha, to coin a phrase. A bigot married to an Eskimo. Happens all the time.

So why the hate? Poor Dan Quayle was the butt of a billion jokes, but people didn’t hate him. What are the reasons Governor Palin inspires such an emotion?

Let’s explore a few ideas that come to mind:

• She’s beautiful. No two ways about it, she’s "America’s hottest governor from America’s coldest state." Not only is she beautiful, but she’s just had a fifth kid and still retains a body that would bode well in a bikini.
  
  I think her beauty is most horrifying to the grim-n-grumpy feminists on the left, who are far more comfortable with female politicos that angrily eschew things like "looks" and "fitness": Madelyn Albright, Janet Reno, and yes—Hillary. "Pretty girls" are the butt of these "smart" women’s jokes, because "pretty girls" have it all handed to them on a silver platter, right?
  
  Now don’t get me wrong . . . there are plenty of beautiful women who hate Sarah Palin, but it’s for a different reason. They hate her for her stunning, meteoric success — that she rose to become Governor in a male-dominated state, while remaining married to her blue-collar husband, while raising five children, while being involved in church and athletics — and now she’s potentially one heart-beat away from being President!
  
  Beautiful women just don’t do that . . . because they don’t have to, of course. Maybe marriage, a career, and school board -- but not that level of success. For a beautiful woman to see another beautiful woman put in such hard work — ugh. It’s hateful to be reminded of one’s decision to take the bench early, I guess... .



• She’s married to a man’s man. For the last forty years, the hard left has sought to recreate American men and American women as American human beings, as if we are somehow differentiated only by reproductive organs. Men should cry more. Women shouldn’t cry at all. Men should be sensitive. Women should be tough. Men should get manicures. Women should compete harder in sports. The destination is a mushy, gushy middle, where everyone is equal, and equally unattractive to the opposite sex.
  
  And you know what? There’s been a lot of success in this area. Grim-n-grumpy feminists wake up in the morning with the Pillsbury Doughboy next to them. (Boy, that’s a turn-on).
  The Pillsbury Doughboy looks in the mirror and sees — surprise, surprise — what he’s become: Effete and helpless.
  
  Then comes Todd Plain. He works the nightshift. In the oil industry. In Alaska . He races snow mobiles. He’s got a flat belly. And he’d kick your ass in a bar fight. He’s everything the Grim-n-grumpies strangled out of their husbands, and both parties in the bed know it. That’s cause for a lot of hate.



• She’s apparently happy. The twenty-year marriage, five kids, started life without a trust fund, didn’t marry money, works sixty hours a week — just two of these horrifying afflictions would have the hysterics on the left on meds and in therapy.
  
  And yet, Sarah Palin is not only surviving . . . she’s thriving. She seems to be happy. She talks about her husband as "still my guy." She looks like she’s having fun when she gives speeches. What’s not to hate?



• She’s low-maintenance. Sarah Palin can stalk, shoot, and field-dress a moose. She lives above the Arctic Circle. She snowmobiles with "her guy." She ran against her own party to become Governor in an uber-macho state and maintains 80%+ approval ratings. She and her husband pulled themselves up by their bootstraps. They work as a team.



• She is, quite literally, the polar-opposite of Hillary Clinton. She seems to offer evidence that you don’t have to be a "bitch" to make it. She seems to demonstrate that a sham marriage is not a pre-requisite to making it big. She is the hardest, meanest dose of reality a Hillary supporter could ever be forced to see . . . and the result is hate.



• She makes clear the inexperience of Senator Obama. Barrack Obama has less than 200 days service in the United States Senate. He has zero executive-level experience. None. In fact, at one point he pointed to "his campaign" as his executive experience, as if running for President makes you qualified to be President.
  
  Personally, I have no problem with Obama’s lack of experience. Hell, I think I could be President, sipping on martinis and taking advice from my hand-picked advisors.
  
  But the problem with Sarah is this — A leftist cannot rub her face in the dirt of experience without stuffing Barack’s in there too. She has executive experience as a mayor and a Governor, and he has none. Zero. And the fact that Obama supporters are put in a position where they have no choice but to sound stupid and hypocritical in discussing Obama’s superior qualifications… well, hatred is the only viable emotion.



• She is one of us. This, I think, is the thing that inspires the deepest hatred. You see, Americans love their champions and leaders up on a pedestal — invincible and removed. We like our sports heroes to embarrass and crush the challengers. We like our movie stars nothing less than perfect. We like our politicians to members of Mensa, or brilliant orators, or war heroes, or fabulously wealthy aristocrats who’ve never worked. Why? Because we love our "stars" not for the light they shine down on us, but how far away from us they are.
  
  Sarah Palin reminds us how little most of us have achieved — that 99% of us are mere scrappers, vying for 10,000th place. She is the American success story of a woman who took what she was given, and multiplied it one-hundred fold.

And for that, I love Sarah Palin. And even if she fades into political obscurity in the next two months, I will always remember 2008 as the year I was, probably for the last time, inspired by an American politician.

Prioleau Alexander served in the U.S. Marine Corps and is the author of YOU WANT FRIES WITH THAT? A White-Collar Burnout Experiences Life at Minimum Wage. (Arcade , 2008)