Sarah Palin co-hosts 'Today.' How'd she handle it?
Sarah Palin co-hosted the 鈥�Today Show鈥� on Tuesday, meaning that for one morning she was a member of what she calls the 鈥渓amestream media鈥�. How did she fare in the glare of several hours of early-morning TV?
Well, we think she held up fine. There was no mangling of the history of Paul Revere鈥檚 ride, no malapropisms, and no assertions that if you squint you can see Russia from the top of 30 Rock. She was a perfectly competent performer who poked fun at herself (the lead-in showed her commandeering Matt Lauer鈥檚 office and writing notes on her hand) while handling tough questions without wilting.
In fact, during her seven-minute, serious interview with Mr. Lauer, we think it was the interviewer who came across as irritating. Lauer kept interrupting Ms. Palin to press her to answer questions she was in the process of answering. Plus, his topics were sort of a checklist of conventional wisdom. Nonsensical discussion of brokered convention? Check! Reference to Mitt Romney as boring? Check! Obligatory comparison of selection of Palin to upcoming GOP VP choice? Roger that!
鈥淭here is no perfect candidate. I would warn voters never to put their faith wholly in an individual,鈥� said Palin in response to that latter query.
If Lauer would have asked questions about what Palin was saying the whole thing would have been much more interesting. She kept talking about President Obama鈥檚 鈥渇ailed socialist policies鈥�, for instance. He could have asked her what she thought socialism is, and which of Obama鈥檚 policies apply, just to nudge her off that talking point.
Anyway, the whole experience does raise a number of interesting questions on its own.
First of all, why is Fox News letting Palin get so much NBC face-time? She was introduced as a Fox contributor, but it鈥檚 not like she鈥檚 got a new book out to promote. If she鈥檚 going to practice her morning-show host chops, why not Fox & Friends?
Second, is this her new career goal? Morning-show host is an occupation that might fit with Palin鈥檚 skill set, after all. A little light discussion of national events, than. Palin seemed more relaxed doing this then she does on Fox, where she鈥檚 supposed to be a heavyweight content contributor.
Third, Katie who? Palin鈥檚 ex-nemesis Katie Couric is co-hosting this week over on ABC's "Good Morning America," and, by comparison, Ms. Couric seemed too serious for 7 a.m. Her turn on the evening news may have boosted her gravitas quotient, but in turn it seems to have lessened her ability to laugh. Any pairing in which George Stephanopoulos has to serve as the cheery one isn鈥檛 a recipe for long-term success.
So what was Palin鈥檚 take on ? 鈥淥rganized chaos,鈥� she said, as she and the rest of the 鈥淭oday鈥� team stood outside with the crowd for the show wrap-up. We鈥檇 second that summation of journalism 鈥� though in our case the 鈥渙rganized鈥� part doesn鈥檛 always appear.
