cover image Wild Card: The Promise and Peril of Sarah Palin

Wild Card: The Promise and Peril of Sarah Palin

Mark Joseph, Bully! Pulpit (Midpoint, dist.), $24.95 (220p) ISBN 978-0-9827761-3-1

When Sarah Palin exploded onto the American political scene, she was virtually an unknown. As the VP pick for the troubled McCain campaign, she was thought by many to be a cynical ploy to attract female voters. She was decried by liberals for her lack of experience and lauded by conservatives for her commitment to her faith. When McCain lost, Palin parlayed her exposure into a pundit position on Fox News, an influential place within the Republican party, and her own reality TV show. Palin's identity has been appropriated and discussed by many, and Joseph strives to find his own balanced view, succeeding most when dealing with her relationship to Christianity. He presents a thoughtful examination of her history, ostensibly trying to find the real Sarah Palin, but he does so with a great deal of commentary and very little investigative journalism. The result is another incomplete story. Readers who want an idea of Palin's values may find this useful, but otherwise it's yet another attempt to jump on the bandwagon. (Nov.)