Five things we learned from Sarah Palin last night
As promised, former governor of Alaska Sarah Palin turned up in Hamilton last night to charm nearly a thousand guests and raise money for Charity of Hope. The reviews were pretty upbeat, except for a few digs by Michele Mandel of the Toronto Sun, who says she isn’t “quite ready for prime time.” Whether we’re welcoming our new Alaskan overlords in January 2013 or not, the event was educational: we already knew Palin could work a crowd, but it turns out she can do it internationally. Here, five lessons gleaned from Palin’s stopover in Hamilton.
1. People are the same all over. Sort of She came to Hamilton, she says, to talk about the struggles that all families go through, whether they’re from the frozen north of Alaska or, uh, Canada. Of course, she says, “We have found that our challenges play out on the front pages of the newspapers some days. Other people’s may not.” You betcha.
2. She thinks she sounds like us Palin loves Canada, and the sound of our voices, because it sounds so much like hers—she says she’s been confused for a Canadian because of her accent (though presumably not when she’s talking about guns). Try not to spend the rest of the day being self-conscious about your voice.
3. Everything is about politics Speaking at a hospital charity in Ontario and encouraging Alberta to “ramp up development” of the tar sands sounds a bit confused, like telling the former governor that you loved her in all those Terminator movies. Oddly, the Star calls this “staying away from politics.”
4. Canada kinda loves her back There were a measly two protestors, and the Spectator found more than a few adoring fans: “bombshell,” “genuine” and “sex appeal” are sprinkled liberally through the Spec‘s article. Even an article in which Palin is compared to Jessica Simpson, Kim Kardashian and Kate Gosselin comes off as a mash note. Or were those supposed to be compliments?
5. She’s rolling in it The organizers of the Palin event hotly deny that she was paid $200,000 (as reported by the Wall Street Journal), but she was clearly happy to show up: after leaving the piddling $125,000 government salary behind her, she’s estimated to have made more than $10 million in the past year.
• Sarah Palin charms guests at Hamilton fundraiser [Toronto Star] • Hamilton and the Sarah Palin show [Hamilton Spectator] • Palin: Pretty, pleasant, but not so presidential [Toronto Sun] • Sarah, Inc. [Wall Street Journal]
