Wanted: An inner editor for Palin

On the Fourth, people at the big cookout we attended talked a lot about Sarah Palin’s resignation announcement. That is, when they weren’t talking about Mark Sanford (best overheard exchange: “I want to send an e-mail to Jenny Sanford but I don’t know her address.” “Try jenny@luvguv.com.”). But back to Palin, whose resignation led to lots of jokes and even a few interesting political insights, but the whole time, I kept thinking how badly Palin needs a good inner editor. “Rambling” doesn’t begin to describe her off-the-cuff speaking style.

In Palin’s hands, or rather mouth, what could have been a short, clear statement of intentions and reasons turned into a meandering, only occasionally coherent 3000-word trip through every nook and cranny of Palin’s amorphous inner mix of Positive-Thinking Happy Thoughts and Resentful Anger. Self-important pronouncements bumped up against conservative catchphrases, but that’s OK because no sooner had she started talking about one thing, then she was on to another one, and then she’d take time for a couple of tangents, and then maybe if you’re lucky, she’d circle back around to what It was she’d started talking about in the first place. It was probably fascinating for those who study self-absorption in fast-talking ADD sufferers.

Coming after Palin’s incoherent TV interviews during the 2008 campaign, her performance Friday should eliminate her from consideration for future political office. But this is the country that re-elected George W. Bush, so, like it or not, anything’s still possible. In case you missed it, here’s the official text of Palin’s speech, along with a video.

This article appears in Jun 30 – Jul 7, 2009.