Palin tells a few truths on Oprah
Sarah Palin on Oprah Winfrey's TV show (True/Slant screen grab)
Sarah Palin was on “The Oprah Winfrey” show today and though the headlines are already about almost son-in-law Levi Johnston, one of the most intriguing things to me were the moments when Palin seemed to be telling the truth despite herself.
When Oprah asked John McCain’s running mate if she would make a presidential run in 2012, Palin at first started out by mentioning that son Trig would be heading to kindergarten at that time and, “I don’t know what I’m going to be doing then.” But Oprah pushed a bit further, asking if Palin would say publicly if she had even thought about it. “No I wouldn’t,” Palin responded, which rang true, much more so than when a moment later she said the thought was “not even on my radar screen right now.”
Palin also came across as truthful when she admitted that her interview with Katie Couric wasn’t a resounding success. When Couric asked Palin during the campaign what newspapers and magazines she read, Palin answered, “All of them, any of them,” a response which ignited a firestorm of derision. She confessed to Oprah on Monday that wished she had just named some titles but that she was so annoyed with Couric by that point that she took it in the context of “do you read” at all.
I also believed her when she said she didn’t have a moment’s hesitation when called upon to be the vice presidential running mate. “I didn’t blink,” she said. “I felt quite confident in my abilities.” And I appreciated her honesty when she seemed to indicate that the notion of abortion flickered across her mind when she discovered she was pregnant with a baby with Down’s Syndrome, adding that she was frightened at the prospect. “It was easy to understand why a woman would feel that it’s easier to just do away with some less than ideal circumstance, to do away with a problem,” she said. In the end, the situation just strengthened her pro-life resolve, she said.
Not that the whole hour was a tell-all extravaganza. There were lots of things Palin left murky, such as when Oprah addressed reports that Palin was considering hosting her own talk show and asked, half-jokingly, if she should be worried. Palin’s response: “Oprah, you are the queen of talk shows. There’s nothing to worry about.” That doesn’t really answer the question. Nor was I convinced when she said that Levi would be welcomed at the Thanksgiving table, or that her prime disappointment at not being allowed to give a concession speech was that she wouldn’t be given the chance to tell the American people “that all of us together need to be able to move forward.”
Palin goes on this week to talk to Barbara Walters and possibly others, so we’ll get more chances to gauge her veracity, but I have to say I much prefer this version of the candidate, one willing to tell the truth and admit her faults, at least a little bit. I’m not saying the McCain-Palin ticket would have won if we’d seen a bit more of this Sarah, but at least we would have better known the real woman behind the facade.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Hilary Shenfeld, Tweets Tube. Tweets Tube said: Palin tells a few truths on Oprah http://bit.ly/iLk6g [...]
Ms. Shenfeld,
I think Ms. Palin’s great success so far is that she is completely sincere. She believes everything she says. That what she says completely contradicts the facts or even something she had said just five minutes earlier does not in the least bit stop her from completely and honestly believing she is saying at the moment. When she said she agreed with John McCain in opposing all ear-marked Federal funding in legislation, she really meant it. That she as a mayor or a governor might have actually requested and received ear-marked federal funds and that the State of Alaska might receive more ear-marked federal funds than any other state on a per capita basis does not mean she did not really meant that she was completely opposed to it. It this ability to completely and honestly believe two completely opposite things at the same time is what makes her a hero to so many.
A hero to some, not so much to others. But if she’s trying to get everybody to like her by saying what she thinks they want to hear, I think she’s failed in that regard.
In response to another comment. See in context »I think this is a start in the right direction, maybe, but I still can’t get over the suspicion that Palin is dep down pretty manipulative yet not aware of herself enough to know what she is really doing at all times. But this is a start. But where does being honest get you these days? It’s not the standard road to get back into politics.
Oh don’t worry about Sarah; we have not seen the last of her. As for politicians not being completely honest? All I can say to that is, “You betcha.”
In response to another comment. See in context »