Sarah Palin Reads Vanity Fair, Resigns as Governor

Illustration by Risko for Vanity Fair.

Even the woman in the red dress who told candidate McCain at a town hall campaign gathering in 2008 she thought Obama 'was an Arab' should be able see past Palin's lip gloss, if she reads the VF article.

By Larry Ray / The Rag Blog / July 3, 2009

Sarah Louise Palin, erratic governor of Alaska and the G.O.P.'s 2008 Vice Presidential candidate, must have felt more than just the heat that is melting the glaciers in her state. She announced her resignation one day before all the real Fourth of July fireworks, from her Wasilla, Alaska home.

I read Todd S. Purdum's tell-all article, "It Came From Wasilla" just two days ago in the August 2009 issue of Vanity Fair. Purdum's article was more than telling. It was prophetic. The title could now be "It Never Really Left Wasilla."

The article carefully documents Palin from all sides, including inside stories now being told by top McCain campaign staff about Palin's petulant meltdown as a serious candidate. She dazzled the eager conservative base like a master magician during her brief stage appearances, but a look behind the curtain discloses a small town, clueless lightweight former beauty queen whose life, Purdum notes, "has sometimes played out like an unholy amalgam of Desperate Housewives and Northern Exposure."

The Vanity Fair article is, well, fair. It definitely is not a superficial whack job. It is so on target, and so well documented that one has to wonder if it is more than coincidence that she decided to fold up her political tent. After Vanity Fair, she can expect a steady barrage of even deeper investigative reporting if she decides to run for anything other than head of her church's glossolalia discussion committee.

Will she leave politics, or will she run for a U.S. Senate seat or the Presidency? Cable TV is having a field day. Interestingly, Palin's timing in announcing her resignation evidences her utter lack of understanding of the fine points of making political news. Millions of Americans are traveling, taking holiday vacations to visit family and friends. And after the nonstop weekend news coverage of fireworks, parades and celebration of American Independence, constant news coverage immediately shifts to the Michael Jackson memorial free for all in Los Angeles through the end of the following week.

Palin has reportedly gotten a sizeable advance for a book contract. She has chosen a senior writer for conservative Christian World magazine as her co-author. But if you can't wait for her book to come out, I suggest you grab a copy of Vanity Fair for a more sober look at the real Sarah Louise Palin.

Vanity Fair also has strong presence on the web where you may also read the article.

Even the woman in the red dress who told candidate McCain at a town hall campaign gathering in 2008 she thought Obama "was an Arab" should be able see past Palin's lip gloss, if she reads the VF article.

[Retired journalist Larry Ray is a Texas native and former Austin television news anchor. He also posts at The iHandbill.]

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