'What Makes People Think Having Someone Like Their Neighbor in the White House a Good Thing?'

Mark Finkelstein
September 12th, 2008 2:24 PM
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H/t cgb1. Sarah Palin is sending the MSM around the bend.  On MSNBC this afternoon, Andrea Mitchell provided perhaps the most blatant example yet of an MSMer openly admitting she doesn't want Palin as VP. Mitchell, clearly frustrated by Palin's every-woman-appeal, complained: "Is that what we really want in our leaders? Do we want someone 'just like me?' I mean, I don't want someone like me because I know I'm not because I know I'm not prepared to be vice-president or president.  What makes people think that having someone like their neigbhor be in the White House is a good thing?"

Mitchell's guest was Lisa Murkowski, Republican senator from Alaska.  Mitchell began by trying to lure Murkowski into taking a swing at Palin for her comments about taking on the "good old boys."  Palin defeated Murkowski's father Frank, then the sitting governor of Alaska, in the 2006 GOP gubernatorial primary:

MITCHELL: One of those good old boys was your father, Frank Murkowski. How does that make you feel?

Murkowski wouldn't bite, speaking graciously of a generational change in a young state. Mitchell tried again to exploit a daughter's loyalty to provoke Murkowski into taking a shot at Palin.

 View video here.

MITCHELL: She's really describing herself as the anti-Frank Murkowski. Isn't that painful?

Once again, Murkowski gave a gracious answer, focusing on the way people can identify with Palin:

LISA MURKOWSKI: They're looking at her and saying: 'Wow! We could have somebody who is like me, who is like my neighbor, actually helping to run this country. That's great; that's something that I want to embrace.' And I think that's what you're seeing with the appeal of Sarah Palin.

That's when Mitchell broke out the elitism—cloaked in false modesty.

MITCHELL: Is that what we really want in our leaders? Do we want someone 'just like me?' I mean, I don't want someone like me because I know I'm not because I know I'm not prepared to be vice-president or president.  What makes people think that having someone like their neigbhor be in the White House is a good thing?"