Palin and Ahmadinejad: Kindred Spirits

"Our opponent ... is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect… [Obama] is not a man who sees America like you and I see America. We see America as a force of good in this world. We see an America of exceptionalism." -Sarah Palin

Palin is a cheerleader. I can’t seem to get that thought out of my head. Her function, as I see it, is to make people feel good about themselves and about their team—that is, Team America. Or more specifically, the red state version of Team America. Palin offers no substance of her own, only support for McCain. She offers no analysis of her own, only put downs of the other team (Obama, Democrats, Russia, Iran, left-wing media, east-coast elites, wall st.). Her pep, spunk, winking, and “say it aint so, Joe” folksy mannerisms provide the stylistic side of the cheerleader persona.

Today my father emailed me an interesting observation made by a Persian expert he knows. The expert said that Palin reminded him of Ahmadinejad. With inflation running at 25% in Iran, the government’s policies are not working, but Ahmadinejad’s rhetoric has a visceral appeal that common Iranians responded to. Hmmm. Sounds familiar.

Here are some other similarities between Palin and Ahmadinejad that I’ve come up with. Ahmadinejad’s modus operandi is to threaten Israel and talk down to Bush and “the West,” without much analytical substance behind the jabs. Like Palin, he doesn’t seem to make much sense when he speaks. He uses vernacular expressions and idioms. He rambles on and on and nothing seems to add up to a coherent whole. He has his own “folksy” manner of speech, dress and gesture, which American’s interpret as simply strange, but Iranians identify with. He is superstitious and pious. He plays upon the fears of the Iranian populous. He, too, grew up in a small town, and his provincialism is a key component of his populist appeal. And, finally, he has very little concrete power in Iran—just like a Vice President in America. Like Palin, if she were to become VP, Ahmadinejad is perfectly situated to be the head cheerleader for his country.

It is easy to understand why Iran might need a folk hero cheerleader-in-chief. Iran is a theocracy with a crumbling economy and very low levels of political and social freedom. Are things really so bad in America that we need one as well?