Northern Ireland: Looking good in American politics

PJ: Palin is indeed a pretty woman and her grasp of domestic and international affairs has been fodder for late night comics since she burst onto the national scene in 2008. Much of her popularity (with the conservative base of the Republican party) can be credited to her looks as well as the portrayal of herself as an average everyday mom with "common sense" conservative talking points values.

It is well known that Mrs. Palin has only a few trusted advisers who help her with her Facebook posts among others things. It is not atypical for a politician to have such assistance and most of those assistants have names and faces. Until now, one of Palin's most trusted advisers has been behind the scenes, known to only a few. But yesterday's Los Angles Times finally caught up with one such adviser: Rebecca Mansour, who is credited with writing many of Palin's Facebook positions as well as occasional tweets. Now we finally have a name and a face behind the words of Sarah Palin. (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-rebecca-mansour-20110317,0,5892620.story)

Belfast Telegraph


Julianne's Palin into significance
By Lindy McDowell

The very gorgeous Julieanne Moore is set to play Sarah Palin in a TV movie based on the race to the White House.

Ms Palin says she'll just have to grit her teeth and bear whatever the movie throws up. Although whether she is genuinely dismayed or secretly happy to be played by a Hollywood looker is something we can't tell.

Palin herself - whatever you think of her politics - is a pretty woman. So it's fair that she's being portrayed as such.

One of the quirks of true-to-life movies is that, as the main players are generally played by big names, quite often they look a lot more attractive on screen than they actually do in real life.

Of course, it may not just be the cosmetic aspects Palin and others are most concerned about in the TV portrayal. For already the race is on for the next White House election battle.

Looking good for the voters is also very much about track record, policies and public perception.

Ms Palin has flourished despite the lipstick-pitbull persona, the criticisms of her grasp of foreign affairs and public pillory by comedienne Tina Fey.

She says of those "gals who pretend like they're me" that she provides them with "some job security." Maybe all the attention is also helping keep her in a job?

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/columnists/lindy-mcdowell/juliannes-palin-into-significance-15115550.html