Sarah Palin charms on Tonight Show

As might be expected, I spent the first part of the 11pm hour watching Sarah Palin's visit to the Tonight Show.  (Unlike some people, I did not get a chance to blog the AP's report before it aired.)  Mrs. Palin had a lot to say on various topics, and my general impression was that she did just fine.  Now, I will say that Jay Leno's line of questioning contained mostly softballs (but what pol doesn't get softballs from late-night hosts, really?), and the crowd, amazingly (given the number of people in whatever poll media sources can find who view Mrs. Palin unfavorably), appeared to be rather pro-Palin.  (That, or they're incredibly polite Dems who will now have to give up their posting privileges at the Huffington Post.)

For those who missed it, here are the high points, at least until NBC gets the actual video online, of what I considered to be quite an entertaining interview:

• On being viewed at controversial:  "I don't ask for it."
• On getting advice from her parents:  "My dad'll tell me what kind of ammunition to use."
• On being the subject of all sorts of negative comments in the media:  "Jay, you've gone through this too..."
• On writing notes on her hand (a habit, apparently, that she picked up from her schoolteacher father):  "...just to get the left all wee-wee'd up...I'm gonna keep doing it."
• On whether she might consider a career as a talk show host:  "I hear once in a while this [the Tonight Show desk] comes open..."
• On ill-advised statements made recently by Joe Biden:  "I'm glad I'm not vice-president because I wouldn't know what to do with all that free time."

(Yes, I hear some of you already:  "I'm glad she's not vice-president either..."  Wonderful, you know how to be snarky on someone else's blog.  Great, now go ahead and e-mail me, and we can civilly discuss whether Mrs. Palin as VP could possibly have been as bad as the current administration and its spend-our-way-out-of-debt mentality have been for this country.  Kthxbye.)

So, did Sarah Palin lay out an alternative to the current mindset in Washington?  (And would you expect anyone to do that on a late-night comedy show?)  Actually, she did; when the subject of her notes on her hands came up, she happily explained how what she wrote is a better prescription for what ails this country.  (I'm starting to wonder if those who said originally that she did this in the first place intentionally to play the MSM were onto something...)

And did she talk about the other stories that have swirled around her?  Not really, unless you count one quick Family Guy reference.  And I'm glad.  Leave those types of stories to the bottom-feeders (I'm looking at you, Entertainment Tonight).

My verdict:  a good, strong interview.  It's worth a view if you can.

Other notes:  the end of primary season here in Texas meant that I wasn't flooded with campaign ads.  Unfortunately, it did mean that NBC affil KXAN occasionally obscured a good third of the picture with primary results.  Totally unnecessary.

More notes:  you can find my original anticipatory post for Sarah Palin's appearance on the Tonight Show here.

Update:  Well, NBC hasn't uploaded yet, but someone else did get the video up already, so here you go!


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