I finally got a chance to watch Sarah Palin's new "Mama Grizzlies" ad -- and, well, I'm struck by what's not in it: as far as I can tell, there isn't a single shot of even one of the actual right-wing female candidates Palin is touting as "Mama Grizzlies." There not one image of Nikki Haley or Carly Fiorina or any other Palin endorsee, and she never utters any of their names, almost as if she can't bear to share the spotlight with them:
I know Palin's point is that the ordinary female voters in her posse are also "Mama Grizzlies" -- but it's clear from the speech used in the soundtrack that she's also referring to the candidates. Yet they're carefully kept offscreen. And about half of the ordinary women in the ad are shown holding signs praising Palin to the skies. The speech notwithstanding, the ad clearly isn't about a movement -- it's about her, and her alone.
There's a place for this kind of film: at a party's convention, just before the winning candidate is formally nominated and ritually endorsed by the delegate vote. Palin seems to be jumping the gun here -- as if she thinks she already deserves the hagiographic video tribute every other successful candidate gets only after winning a primary fight.
Andrew Sullivan says, "The nomination is hers to lose." I think, in her mind, that's true except for the last two words.
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