"Nowadays, for both poles of the political spectrum but especially for
the right, politics is a business—the entertainment business.
The freak show, as Mark Halperin termed it, has been turned into a fully
merchandised product. It was Fox’s Roger Ailes who had the insight that
the American right was an underserved market, one with a powerful kind
of brand loyalty. Fox News has turned a disaffected segment of the
populace into a market, with the fervor and idiosyncratic truth
standards of a cult. Wingnut-ism has been monetized, is one admittedly
partisan way of looking at it. Palin stokes the disaffection of her
constituents and then, with the help of Fox, offers to heal them, for a
price. And—surprise—they’re more affluent than most Americans. Fifty-six
percent make over $50,000 a year, according to a Times/CBS
poll. Running for president is no doubt part of her business model. But
forget elections (as many Palin supporters already seem to have done);
she’s already the president of an alternative America—and also its CEO."
-- Gabriel Sherman, in his April 25th article about Sarah Palin for New York magazine.
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