Colleen O’Connor: Sarah Palin for mother of the year

Vanity Fair’s latest cover story featuring Sarah Palin and Levi Johnston proves what a media draw and ratings magnet Palin still is.

No publication, especially Vanity Fair, runs a story that doesn’t sell. And Sarah Palin sells — big.

Since leaving the national political stage as the Republican vice presidential candidate and resigning from the governorship of Alaska, Palin has garnered more press than anyone except President Obama — and he has a giant staff to command attention.

Palin has garnered massive media coverage by simply denying the press access to her. Twitter, tweets, and tell-alls are generating all the attention.

Thus, enter Levi Johnston, the stand-up kind of guy that every parent dreads.

For a few dollars (or lots more), Johnston will tell sordid little remembrances about Palin and her family. True or not, who is to say?

What is absolutely true, is that Johnston’s lack of discretion (let alone chivalry) has given even liberal media columnists reason to pause, and reassess, their dislike of Sarah Palin.

As New York Times columnist, Gail Collins, writes, “For the first time in my life, I feel sympathy for Sarah Palin.”

After reading the Vanity Fair piece, Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post calls Levi, “an opportunistic creep.”

These columnists are not referring to his desire to pose for Playgirl magazine, or his desire to “go out and do a movie, maybe even be a celebrity.”

Their revulsion for Johnston’s behavior stems from his non stop whines about the Palin’s domestic life. A life he would not have been privy to had his potential in-laws not welcomed him into their home.

Levi, whose own unpleasant past should have made him a better, more compassionate man, continues to behave like an irresponsible adolescent — with little understanding that grown-up behavior starts in youth — not middle age.

As he complained to Vanity Fair:

“Sarah didn’t cook. Todd doesn’t cook — the kids have to do it all themselves; cook, clean, do the laundry, and get ready for school.”

Sounds like felony child abuse to me.

Even worse, Levi says, is the fact that Sarah Palin kept bugging him to adopt his yet unborn child.

“Sarah told me she had a great idea: We would keep it a secret — nobody would know that Bristol was pregnant. She told me that once Bristol had the baby, she and [husband] Todd would adopt him. That way, she said, Bristol and I didn’t have to worry about anything.”

“Sarah kept mentioning this plan. She was nagging — she wouldn’t give it up. She would say, ‘So, are you ‘gonna let me adopt him?’ “he says.

“We both kept telling her we were definitely not going to let her adopt the baby. I think Sarah wanted to make Bristol look good, and she didn’t want people to know that her 17-year-old daughter was going to have a kid.”

An equally plausible explanation might be that Sarah and Todd Palin clearly saw what their daughter did not—Levi Johnston’s less than sterling character. Adopting the coming grandchild, might have been a plan to protect him. Who is to know?

Shortly after the child was born, Levi and Bristol Palin broke up. Little surprise there.

What remains a surprise is how “hot” Palin remains. She is, a “ratings magnet,” a “babe,” and a face that splashes across both targets and posters for the left and the right. (See comments portion of all Internet stories referencing Palin).

Related Links: More by Colleen | More politics | More opinion

Anti-gun groups use her face to raise funds. The religious right does the same for “family values.” And the main stream media use her to resuscitate their ever dwindling audience. Palin lights up the blogoshpere, generates hate-filled, and love-filled comments in every article, and remains a bit of a puzzle.

Why does she generate such intensity? And such interest?

Palin has received over 1,070 invitations since her “retirement” from the political stage. She has nearly completed her own memoir, and has accepted a major speaking address in Hong Kong for September 23rd — all the while in self-imposed exile in Alaska.

Even Henry Blodgett of the Business Insider thinks Johnston’s tell-all has “helped Palin’s cause.”

Blodgett writes:

“The father of Bristol Palin’s baby, Levi Johnston, is cashing in on his 15 minutes of fame and Sarah-Palin trashing skills.’

And then asks:

“Is America’s most famous teen dad getting his revenge for being forced to shave off his mullet and hold Bristol’s hand at last summer’s Republican convention instead of partying the night away?

“No!….Johnston has actually managed to help Sarah Palin’s cause.”

A new twist for Sarah? Putting up with a cad like Johnston just might make her “Mother of the Year.”

One thing is certain. More to come.

Colleen M. O’Connor is a former college history professor, the director of the “Faces of San Diego 2000″ family photographic history project and co-editor of Eleanor Roosevelt: An American Journey.  She is an SDNN political columnist and can be reached at CoConnor15x(a)Yahoo.com

Tags: Alaska Governor, business insider, gail collins, henry blodgett, levi johnston, new york times, President Obama, ruth marcus, Sarah Palin, SDNN, SWRNN, vanity fair, washington post

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 3rd, 2009 at 11:04 am and is filed under Columns, News, Politics & Government . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.