Housegate was mentioned in the Village Voice, Troopergate gained some traction for a while, but Dairygate stayed only on the blogs. These topics are too complicated and... boring. The media simply yawn at this kind of stuff.
Now, what happens when they find out that a petite white woman slept with a 6'8" black guy? That's fantastic news and stays alive for days on end. Cocaine is the icing on the cake.
90% of my Google alerts have been about Sarah Palin and Glen Rice for several days. It was a clever move to leak those bits of The Rogue. People will buy the book out of their fascination with sex and drugs and, as the book doesn't have an index, they may have to read about other things, the seemingly boring things that don't get too much press.
Sex always sells. In the Oval Office, in airport restrooms or somewhere in Alaska. The more famous (or notorious) the people involved, the longer the stories stay in the headlines. All the large newspapers that rushed to condemn Joe McGinniss for including such politically irrelevant, titilating tales about Sarah Palin in his book were salivating over the juicy details and didn't hesitate to print them.
Others are having a great time reporting Mike Tyson's comments in their full glory.
People who are not normally interested in politics will read these stories. Politics is too complicated, but sex is simple and far more exciting.
Sarah Palin counts on her sexy image to sell her brand. Her own father wore a t-shirt proclaiming she was the hottest governor of the coldest state. Her skirts are too short, her choice of shoes too provocative, her boobs expand at will and she makes constant references to perverted sexual interest in her daughters and herself.
In Going Rogue, she mentions threats of gang rape against Bristol and Willow. Letterman was accused of being a pervert for suggesting the statutory rape of Willow. Piper didn't escape suggestions of Joe McGinniss's unhealthy attention and he was also accused of ogling Sarah in her shorts and tank top, just waiting for Todd to be out of the picture... [based on a tongue-in-cheek joke from McGinniss's son.] The family cheered when abstinent Bristol simulated sex with her dance partner for the benefit of millions of viewers.
Sarah Palin described a run in an interview to Runners World:
I went for a run at John McCain's ranch a couple of days before the debate with Joe Biden. My favorite thing in the world is to run on hot, dusty roads. I don't get enough of that in Alaska. So I was in heaven and there were plenty of hills so I knew my thighs were going to just throb.
Other female governors and politicians are not as hot, don't talk about their throbbing thighs and don't publicize threats of perverted or violent sex with their daughters. They dress appropriately and keep their families protected.
When it comes to Sarah Palin, is it any surprise that tales of sex with a basketball player prove to be so newsworthy?
*****
[This post by Andrew Sullivan is a must read.]
