From our Palindrome desk:
Official Campaign Outsider Survey®:
Is Bristol Palin Being Propped Up On ‘Dancing with the Stars’ By Tea Partiers Or What?
Bristol – and Mama Sarah – say, sort of, no.
From an Associated Press piece in Saturday’s Boston Herald:
The show’s producers dismissed speculation that Tea Partiers were stuffing the ballot box by voting for Bristol Palin using phony e-mail addresses.
Both the Mama Grizzly and Alaska’s favorite daughter dissed the reports via Twitter and Facebook.
“Ah yes . . . Bristol-the-diva! Silly critics! See her diva-ish-ness Sunday, ‘Sarah Palin’s Alaska’ 2 learn truth, before assuming. Thanks & enjoy!” Sarah Palin wrote on her Twitter account.
Bristol took a darker tone on her Facebook page: “Thank you supporters who continue to support. The haters are already pulling out all the stops this week to destroy.”
The Herald had already described Bristol as having “two left paws” as a dancer. Interestingly, here’s what Sarahcuda says in her upcoming book, America by Heart (via The Daily Beast) about talentless reality-show contestants:
“Do you ever wonder where the producers of American Idol come up with the seemingly endless supply of people who can’t sing but are deluded enough to get up in front of a national television audience and screech out a song anyway?
Then again, screeching is what the Palins do best.
Regardless, Bristol Palin might want to consider the case of former BBC political correspondent John Sergeant, the 2008 darling of Britain’s “Strictly Come Dancing,” the precursor to “Dancing with the Stars.”
From the New York Times:
For weeks, Mr. Sergeant had mesmerized national audiences with his rhythmless performances on the BBC’s top-rated weekend television program, “Strictly Come Dancing,” which inspired ABC’s popular copycat show in the United States, “Dancing With the Stars,” and 25 similar shows around the world. The more he performed like a circus elephant alongside his partner, Kristina Rihanoff, a voluptuous blond professional dancer from Siberia, the more viewers embraced him.
But wait. There’s more.
[T]he viewing public repeatedly voted to keep Mr. Sergeant in the show, which drops one couple each week until a winner emerges in time for Christmas. Mr. Sergeant became the darling of thousands of bloggers on Facebook and the Web site of “Strictly Come Dancing.” A television audience that grew to 10 million viewers for his performance last weekend mounted an insurgency, voicing defiance of judges’ “bullying” and love of Mr. Sergeant’s wry, twinkle-eyed, “have a go” spirit.
BUT then came Mr. Sergeant’s bombshell. He told the news conference he was quitting the show before the fun turned to recrimination. He said he would make one final appearance as a guest, for a waltz with Ms. Rihanoff, this weekend.
“The trouble is that there is now a real danger that I might win the competition,” he said. “Even for me, that would be a joke too far. That is a frightening thought, a terrifying thought.”
Bristol Palin take note.
But from there, readers get 15 pages of wire-service reports: Ten pieces and eight briefs from the Associated Press, five pieces from the Washington Post, and one from the New York Times (Globe to Mother Ship: Drop Dead!)
Campaign Outsider 