When things don't go her way, Sarah Palin turns into an insufferable whiner! Gosh.... You'd think a tough-as-nails pit bull/hockey mom/outback/Annie Oakley/moose shooting/field dressing/maverick would have a more sense than to chalk up her loss to the media's double standard when it came to campaign coverage. At least she could try to find something better than complaining no one asked Obama about his makeup or hairstylist!!!! Are you kidding me?!?! How much of a hairstylist does the guy need? All it takes to cut his hair is a #4 electric razor and you're done. This little hissy fit of hers is particularly revealing when you consider a comment David Axelrod made during the 60 Minutes interview...
"My fundamental concern for him wasn't whether he had the capacity, 'cause I think he's the smartest guy that I've ever worked with or known," Axelrod said. "But it was whether he had that pathological drive to be president. You know, so often, what defines presidential candidates is this need to be president, to define themselves. He didn't have that. And, you know, we told him, 'You're gonna have to find some other way to motivate yourself.' And he did, which was what he could do as president."
That's it in a nutshell. For Palin this was all about a need to be the beauty queen. It was always about form over substance. If only the judges had been fair about scoring the swimsuit competition things would have gone completely differently. Forget about the ground game, the online organization, the army of dedicated volunteers, the clarity of the message, the power of words, the reassuring equanimity that "no drama Obama" brings to the stage. If the media had been as interested in his hairstylist as hers, things would have been totally different. I can see why they kept her as far away from the media as possible. She makes Alberto Gonzales look like Learned Hand. The irony, of course, is that Obama, Gonzales and Hand all graduated from Harvard Law School. Oh well, two out of three ain't bad. Eight months ago, I examined his writings here on DKos. Based on that and the way he handled his loss in New Hampshire, I decided to throw my lot in with Obama... not because he was the Messiah... or the Transformational Leader... I had much simpler reasons. He was as graceful in defeat as he was in victory. There is a word for that quality in Latin: Equinimatas. Lowenstein described it very well:
In physical terms, it is the martial arts concept of a neutral stance with a low center of gravity - a position where it is unlikely we can be pulled off balance by an opposing force. Spiritually, it is a calm place where believers feel they are closest to the concept of God. Mentally, it is the point of balance of thinking. When we find this center, we are less subject to the winds of change around us. We need not be whipsawed from the routine process of sequential logic to the other extreme of unfocused vision and abstract imagination.
That is what people see when they talk about Obama's temperament, judgment and character. That is what Sarah Palin is so sadly lacking. Back in March it became clear to me that a person with his character and his intellect could meet the one requirement we need fulfilled in a successful chief executive. He could take the oath of office and fulfill it -- honestly and authentically. If all he does for the next eight years is faithfully protect and defend the Constitution of the United States to the best of his abilities, I will be a happy man. Obviously I want more, and based on his performance during the campaign I expect more. But repairing the environment, disentangling us from foreign adventures, restoring our diplomatic standing, achieving energy independence, delivering universal health care, engineering sustainable growth, and providing affordable wages will be hollow victories if we do not restore the balance of power so we can become a nation truly based upon the rule of law. Nothing we hope for is going to come easy, but with that leverage we can move the world.