Sarah Palin's Extreme Sports

In an article published in The Nation yesterday (grabbed from CommonDreams), Dave Zirin explores the use of sports in political campaigns. He begins by pointing out the incredible number of well-known politicians that have made clear their sporting preferences and goes on to distinguish a “good” sport from a “bad” sport (read: John Kerry’s soft spot for windsurfing = bad). The fact that politicians are proud of their respective sport ventures is not all that surprising, considering the importance sports have in American culture.

But what Zirin’s article moves on to claim is much more interesting. Zirin examines the McCain campaign’s use of sports to paint Sarah Palin as a folksy-type.

“Palin's politics may be beyond the fringe, but her sporting interests are effortlessly mainstream. In this sense, she resembles the current occupant of the White House. George W. Bush built his public persona as the owner of the Texas Rangers,” writes Zirin.

He goes on to point out the obvious: That Palin isn’t “just one of us.” Her family’s combined income is over five times that of the average Wasilla family’s, according to Zirin. Again, that this should surprise anyone in a land where politicians are rarely living on the much-talked-of “Main St.” is shocking. It is, however, significant and Palin’s insistence on her hockey mommy-ness and on her identity as a hunter and sporting enthusiast is no mistake. What sports, military experience and sloppy language can do to connect inherently disconnected politicians with the American public is incredible.

“If sports teaches us anything, it's that you can disguise a lousy competitor for one round, one quarter or one inning, but the truth has a way of making itself known,” writes Zirin. “There is a reason Sarah Palin hasn't done a press conference. In every conceivable way, she belongs in the minors: strictly Bush league.”