Wonder Woman Split in Half

They are like Wonder Woman split in half; one half fell to the right, the other to the left.

Who am I speaking about? Sarah Palin and Rachel Madow, two women who have been flying under the radar for most of their lives, but who have suddenly exploded into view to become major players in the current political circus.

It has happened overnight, or so it seems, with incredible speed and drama. They both have shot across the television screen like charismatic upstarts, wowing their audiences with their bravado (Palin) or wit (Madow.) But goodness, do they ever fly in opposite directions. Their emergence from the wings seems an extraordinary event: It is a fact and a coincidence that fascinates me that two such exceptional women have come on the scene to impact politics and the Media at, roughly, the same time. Both are moving like comets, not toward rags to riches, but toward prominence and influence, abandoning their place as backbenchers. In fact, for the past week McCain has been playing second fiddle to Palin; she, not him, is the reason the campaign is drawing big crowds. And Rachel won her own show on MSNBC this week, not bad for a woman with little TV experience.

Sarah Palin is 44 years old; she’s been Governor of Alaska for about 18 months, and before the Republican Convention she was a virtual unknown in the lower 48. Why John McCain chose her is a question that that will be pondered long after November, and that will be true if the ticket wins or loses. Her vetting seemed awfully short and incomplete; it happened too quickly and with no time for depth. But McCain is known to be impulsive; this time it seems to have paid off, although it is really too early to tell. But once she gave that Convention speech, where she bragged about being the Mayor of her hometown, Wasilla, Alaska, population 6000, and how she wrestled with Big Oil and won, and then managed to break the good old Boy’s network, she was in like Flynn with the Republican Base, the conservative-evangelical-Rovian core of the Party, who always had some reservations about McCain’s conservatism. She energized and unified the Base, as if by magic. She was on her way.

In her train was her family, her Husband Todd, who she called “First Dude,” and her 5 kids, including a 4-month-old baby named Trig, who was born with Downs Syndrome. Then we found out that Bristol, Sarah’s 17 year old daughter was pregnant, but everything was cool because they were going to do the right thing a get married. It got glossed over in a flash. A lot of allowances were made for Sarah because she was the apple of the eye of McCain and the Base. Sarah was pro-life, even a hardliner about it; she was pro-guns and an avid hunter who could field dress a moose; and she was a Pentecostal Christian, belonging to an Assembly of God Church that had ideas about “the End of days” and “the Great Rapture,” which would strike a lot of secular citizens as strange and kooky. She didn’t believe Global Warming was manmade. Her education was a mixed bag: She attended 6 different colleges in different places, finally graduating from the University of Idaho in Journalism. She considered banning some books in the Wasilla Library. But hey, lets not quibble about a few details; to the folks at the convention she was a new incarnation of Joan of Arc carrying the flag of victory. They went wild about her and a week later, nothing has changed. She has ignored her critics who found large holes in some of her stories, like, for example, the bridge to nowhere, but she keeps telling them, as if it was perfectly all right to reinvent herself for the campaign. But amazingly, so far none of the criticism has stuck to her, like her charisma has a Teflon shield. St. Sarah is here to slay the dragon named Obama and help her grandfather become president—by hook or by crook.

On the other side of the political divide is Rachel Madow, 37 years old, a bright, witty, and rapid-fire talker who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, went to Stanford and to Oxford as a Rhodes scholar where she began work on her dissertation. She was an AIDS activist for a time, and then, almost by accident, got a job in Talk Radio, AIR AMERICA, the liberals answer to Rush Limbaugh. Keith Olberman of MSNBC was aware of her and at the beginning of the primary season he would invite her to be a regular commentator, which led her to be included as one of the pundits on a panel at the two party conventions. She acquitted herself impressively. Shortly after that, with Olberman’s help she was given her own show, which debuted on September 8. She is sandwiched between two programs of Olberman’s popular COUNTDOWN, the second program being a re-broadcast of the first one. That’s moving up the media ladder very fast and that’s because she is very good. She is a left-leaning brainy Lesbian who is expressive without apology. She tries to stand on neutral ground with her guests, unless they wander off into politics as a form of fiction. She calls a spade a spade, and can probe her guests while smiling at them. And she can be very witty and funny. She projects an attitude that politics is great fun, which is rare these days. She has a verve and enthusiasm that is charming and infectious. It is no surprise her success has come quickly.

So on the one hand we have the hockey mom who loves the good book, and the brainy Lesbian out to reveal all the foibles and errors of thought of numerous politicians. Sarah is physical, likes the out-of-doors, and lots of kids and family life. Rachel isn’t fond of animals or country life; she likes cities and what can be found there for someone as intellectually curious as she is. Sarah goes to Church, Rachel to the library. It remains to be seen who will be around the longest and have the most impact on their society.