SALON

Monday, Jan 10, 2011 1:30 PM UTC

Sarah Palin’s Alaska finale: The campaign ad wraps up

In which Sarah slams her talking points once more, this time on a literal gold dig

By

Topics: Sarah Palin's Alaska, Sarah Palin, Television,

Sarah Palin's Alaska finale: The campaign ad wraps upSarah Palin in the season finale of "Sarah Palin's Alaska"

This week’s episode served as the final episode in the 8-part marketing presentation that brilliantly defined Sarah Palin as a political brand while simultaneously putting the nail in the coffin of her presidential ambitions. It seemed like a good idea I suppose — using the ruse of an Alaskan documentary to produce a long-form political ad — but even her most hardcore fans must have had a hard time buying the Mama Grizzly crap that she was selling. And she never stopped selling it to the bitter end.

For people like me, and probably for the majority of those of us who have witnessed Sarah Palin’s rise to prominence, her allure as a personality is both mysterious and depressingly obvious. In an age where solid branding is the only way public figures can attract a dedicated following, Sarah developed her talking points and stuck to them religiously — especially during the course of this program. Throughout the eight episodes, we were sold the image of a hard-working, blue collar everywoman who values family above all else and who will protect that family, and her country, by any means necessary — and preferably with a firearm. She’s become an iconic character — a modern day Annie getting her gun — embodying badass, maternal and “naughty librarian” appeal in one package. Not an easy feat.

Unfortunately this past Saturday we realized a nasty consequence of the anger that Sarah Palin has come to symbolize — anger made all the more insidious by the pretty package it was sold in. By almost all accounts, Congresswoman Giffords and the victims of Saturday’s shootings were gunned down by a troubled, mentally unbalanced young man — and that was not Sarah Palin’s fault. But as has been pointed out by former President Bill Clinton (among others), the vitriol and anti-government sentiment perpetuated by Sarah and her ilk can be heard by everyone — mentally stable or not — and using graphics like the infamous tea party target map from November’s elections (with rifle crosshairs over target districts, including Congresswoman Gifford’s) can only serve to potentially further incite the passions of those who may not be able to control them. And, like it or not, as a society we all have to take responsibility for those people.

Sarah doesn’t seem to understand this perspective – not that we expected her to. Nor does she seem to even acknowledge that her imagery was what it appeared to be. A spokesperson for Sarah’s PAC explained that the crosshairs were never intended to be interpreted as rifle sites — a ridiculous explanation given that her rhetoric has always been defined by Clint Eastwood bravado (perhaps she’ll next be trying to convince us that her “Don’t retreat, RELOAD” reference evolved from Willow’s unwillingness to do laundry). I would have had more respect for her if she made the argument that crosshairs on a map doesn’t lead people to commit murder — a point certainly worth debating.

In this installment we visited a reindeer farm, traveled to Nome and Valdez to mine for gold, took a quick detour to Anchorage for an airshow and ended up at the family compound to celebrate Sarah’s parents’ 50th wedding anniversary. 11-year-old daughter Piper played the role of student to Sarah’s teacher for this hour, and delivered perhaps the most unintentionally astute line of the entire series as they flew into their first destination.

“Down below is the 800 miles of trans-Alaskan pipeline,” Sarah explained to Piper as they descended into Valdez, “it travels over three different mountain ranges — and guess where it ends up?”

“In the water?” Piper quips.

Their first adventure was a kayak trip on Valdez Glacier Lake. Apparently the glacier has thinned over 300 feet in the last century, and seemed to be deteriorating at a rapid rate during their journey as pieces of ice and debris rained down around them — not that anybody mentioned it. The main purpose of the trip was to recreate part of the journey that prospectors took during the Klondike gold rush of the late 1800s, and to pan for gold on the beach shore. When Piper didn’t find enough bling in Valdez, they jetted to Nome where they panned for more gold on a beach lined with people who looked like they were engaged in Alaska’s equivalent of playing the slots. As Palins dug and shook sand and ran around, Sarah went on and on about how life was all about competition and hard work and Alaska — like she was that kid in elementary school who wouldn’t stop tapping you on the shoulder saying “guess what?” — and everyone sighed and said “we know, WE KNOW,” hoping somebody — anybody — would come along and ask for her autograph so she would leave them alone.

From Nome, they met Todd at the Anchorage Air Show where Sarah talked about crying at the sight of Blue Angels (we’re assuming she was referring to the planes) before traveling back home for her parents’ 50th anniversary. In the final scene of the series, Sarah and family presented her parents with pieces made from the gold that they had harvested — and everyone talked about love and family and being true Alaskans and I barfed and it was OVER.

More Kirkland Hamill.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 21 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
FBI reportedly joins Bachmann campaign finance probe
204 points205 points | 7 comments
vote
Jon Karl makes things worse: He regrets “inaccurate” Benghazi email but says his story based on it “still entirely stands.” Really. ABC News?
169 points170 points | 27 comments
vote
Paul Krugman’s right: Austerity kills. "In an economy where we’re all in the same boat, one person’s spending is another person’s income. So when the government cuts spending, it reduces people’s income, leading to less business, more unemployment, and a vicious spiral of slowing down the economy."
128 points129 points | 65 comments
vote
“Jodorowsky’s Dune”: The sci-fi classic that never was.
69 points70 points | 15 comments
vote
Doug Henwood: Capitalism Thrives on Class Exploitation
45 points46 points | 5 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: So long, Sookie Stackhouse

Recommendations