The American Dream

In America, you can become all you aspire to be if you are sexy enough. George W Bush channeled cowboy hero John Wayne and beat nerdy Al Gore, in the US presidential election in 2000.

Bill Clinton could run again and win political office, I bet. He maintains a roguish charm, even with the silver hair of an elder statesman. Clinton shone, despite a career that was distracted by womanizing and other charges. His damning personal flaws would have sunk the ambitions of a lesser mortal.

Barack Obama is still a blank canvass. To black folk, he is a living dream. For many, he is evidence that America is now certifiably colour blind. Others just see a regular guy – one who could be a geek, but for his hoop shooting swagger. Before the White House, this dude went online and used a blackberry. At least for now, you could believe that the Prez is actually cool.

Sarah Palin is the most fascinating of them all. Despite her bizarre resignation in the middle of her first term as governor of Alaska, her political stocks could still rise higher yet.( http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/06/sarah-palins-resignation_n_226462.html ).This moose-shooting mother of five, sexes up small town provincialism in a cheesy, made-for-reality-TV way. Just when we thought God fearing pro-lifers were near extinct, the former beauty queen strutted in, designer clad. Never mind her intellectual challenges: Palin’s lure is precisely the fact that she is not cerebral. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/06/fox-news-contributor-rips_n_226370.html)

America’s mood will eventually shift from Obama and his neo - cool. In a return to small townism, Sarah Palin is poised to become the iconic down-homer, waiting to lead America back into the future. Can she win national political office after her inexplicable political maneouvres last week? American voters have already shown through the election of George W Bush, that they are capable of choosing a beer buddy over a braniac to be commander in chief.

All this discussion could of course be moot, if Sarah Palin simply self-implodes. And there is good reason to think that she is well advanced with that. The Daily Beast has posted 10 most awkward Sarah Palin moments. See: http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-07-05/sarah-palins-ten-most-awkward-media-moments/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsR1.