I feel vindicated.
For 2 1/2 years I have argued that Sarah Palin’s flub of the Katie Couric question (what newspapers do you read?) did not demonstrate a lack of intelligence. Her answer (Oh, I read them all) was an attempt to cover up how parochial her interests were.
In other words, the ex-governor read several Alaskan publications about Alaska — and not much else. But on the big stage, in a national TV interview, the truth wouldn’t do.
A former aide, Frank Bailey, the latest to write a tell-all book about Palin, explained in a TV interview last week that the vice presidential nominee “didn’t want to seem too Alaskan” with what she read, and instead “wanted to be bigger than that.”
Palin’s answer to the Couric question brought ridicule and countless other anecdotes since then, according to her sharpest critics, show that she is a dolt. But I think what was really going on over the past couple years is that Palin could not break out of her Juneau bubble.
Political observers are well aware of the Washington Beltway mentality and its ability to wall off our federal officials from the rest of the nation.
But every state capital also has its own Beltway mindset. In Lansing, I have seen it countless times. The average political junkie would be amazed at state legislators’ lack of knowledge on national issues that are debated in Washington.
Other than matters that pertain to them, such as federal funding or a few topics related to the economy, most state lawmakers have such a poor grasp of the details that they are incapable of holding an intelligent conversation about most issues before Congress.
As for foreign policy, forget it. They probably couldn’t find Pakistan on a map.
It’s not that they’re lacking in intellect, they are just so immersed in state politics and personalities that the breadth of their knowledge stops at the Lansing city limits.
This quirk applies to county politics too. County commissioners, I have found, are notoriously uninformed about congressional issues, both foreign and domestic. Their coherence on Lansing matters is not much better.
Since they are in the business of politics and government, one would think that their interests cover the full gamut of those two subjects. No. They can tell you everything you want to know about an assistant director of a county department, but they would have to pause a moment before telling you who runs the State Department.
By the way — if Sarah Palin somehow happens to be reading this, the answer is: Hillary Clinton.
