Media annoyed with Palin talk

Are the media really that annoyed with how Sarah Palin talks? Or is it what she's saying?

A quick perusal of the Internet shows that maybe it's a bit of both. Even after surpassing all expectations on Thursday night in the debate against Joe Biden (admittedly expectations were quite low), it doesn't appear that Palin has many friends in the media.

No respect, I tell ya'

The late comic Rodney Dangerfield used to cock his head, grab his tie, bulge his eyes and say, "Tough crowd, I'll tell ya, tough crowd."

Although she is a bit more telegenic than Dangerfield, Sarah Palin could easily pull off the same routine if she were to read the nation's editorial pages. And according to Palin, she reads 'em.

Too much

The criticism? She's too inexperienced. She's not up for the job. She's a gimmick. She's way too conservative. She's too attractive.

Regardless of the specific criticism, one thing seems to unite the critics: her voice. That's the common ground. Rarely do you read a column on Palin without the author throwing in a "you betcha" or a "darn right." It's great material. It gives the very talented Tina Fey a lot to work with as she does her dead-on impersonation of the governor.

Tina Fey

And Fey delivered again last night. Asked by Gwen Ifill (played by Queen Latifah) how a McCain-Palin ticket would deal with the financial crisis, Palin (Fey) responded:

"You know, John McCain and I, we're a couple of mavericks. And gosh darnit, we're gonna take that maverick energy right to Washington and we're gonna use it to fix this financial crisis and everything else that's plaguin' this great country of ours."

Not laughing

Great comedy. But the media aren't laughing. They aren't the laughing sort. But it doesn't stop them from throwing in a Palin'ism or two. Or three.

We'll start with the Providence Journal. Not only do they not like the talk, they don't like the walk. Alaska isn't just for Alaskans, say the editors from the Ocean state.

We were not won over by her irrelevant populist rifts and appeals, the “betchas,” the “darn rights,” the references to Joe Six-Pack, hockey moms or the “kids’ soccer game on Saturday.” We were certainly not amused by her divisive pitting of energy-producing states against East Coast politicians, who by the way, have every bit as much right to oversee federal lands in Alaska as do Alaskans living next to them.

Do you think the New York Times' Maureen Dowd has an opinion? Always. And it's scathing...

"Being mush-mouthed helped give the patrician Bushes the common touch. As Alistair Cooke observed, 'Americans seem to be more comfortable with Republican presidents because they share the common frailty of muddled syntax and because, when they attempt eloquence, they do tend to spout a kind of Frontier Baroque.'

"Darn right. And that, doggone it, brings us to a shout-out for the latest virtuoso of Frontier Baroque, bless her heart, the governor of the Last Frontier. Her reward’s in heaven.

"At Sarah Palin’s old church in Wasilla, they spoke in tongues. Maybe that’s where she picked it up."

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