Wednesday, November 17, 2010

In Defense of Bristol

If you've been watching Dancing with the Stars this season, you know that teen advocate Bristol Palin, a huge underdog in the competition, has managed to avoid elimination for nine weeks. Three times, including this week, it came down to the end of the show where one pair would be eliminated and the other would move on for Ms. Palin and her partner Mark Ballas. All three times, they moved on.

According to many on the far-left, the reason for Ms. Palin's success is because right-wing Republicans and Tea Party conservatives have maintained an effort to ensure that Bristol doesn't get eliminated from Dancing with the Stars. Bristol's continued success is nothing more than a right-wing conspiracy. It isn't just the left-wing bloggers and liberal media outlets putting the story forward. Bloomberg last week reported the following:
Bristol Palin survived another elimination round on ABC’s "Dancing With the Stars" as fans including Tea Party supporters mustered enough votes to overcome low scores from the talent show's judges.
But could the Tea Party really have such power? After all, on November 2nd, the Tea Party was unable to win the Senate seats it wanted in Nevada and Delaware. In fact, a majority of Tea Party candidates lost their elections. Plus, if you believe the far-left, then obviously Tea Party members aren't concerned with Dancing with the Stars because they're too busy watching their supporters over on FOX News Channel, or better yet, counting stacks of money on their yachts.

What the far-left is doing is trying to attribute Ms. Palin's success on Dancing with the Stars to far right efforts led by supporters of Ms. Palin's mother (former Alaska Governor and rumored 2012 Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin). They're doing this because they're scared. They're upset that this conservative woman has manage to capture the support of viewers of Dancing with the Stars. They're looking forward at 2012 and beyond thinking that the American people will decide that they want to move towards more conservative principles, having gotten tired of the wasteful spending and earmarks that they've fought for. They are afraid of Ms. Palin, because her position as a well-spoken, attractive, young conservative woman means that other young people are more likely to listen to her than them.

The truth is that Ms. Palin continues to advance on Dancing with the Stars because viewers like her. They've seen her working hard throughout the show, and they've seen as she's put in an effort week-after-week to become a better dancer. Ms. Palin has no background in dancing, and I would suspect that the majority of Dancing with the Stars viewers don't. People feel a connection to Ms. Palin, and they see her as the a hard-working American who can achieve success by making an honest effort and working hard. People like underdogs, and they like to see an underdog become top dog. As a result, people pick up the phone and they vote for her to move forward on the show. That's why Ms. Palin has made it to the finals of Dancing with the Stars. It's not a right-wing conspiracy, it's not cheating, its good, honest work.

(As a full disclosure, I believe that the best pair this season on Dancing with the Stars is not Bristol and Mark, but rather Kyle and Lacey. I think they'll end up the winners, with Bristol and Mark taking second place. We'll find out next week when Dancing with the Stars airs.)

4 comments:

  1. Who cares if people "relate" to Bristol as a hard-working, every-day American. It's a dance competition... they should be voting for the best dancer!

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  2. Easy enough to politicize this, but at least acknowledge that there are thousands of people who love dancing, have put their own hearts and passion in to learning what makes a great dancer and expect this show to feature actual stars and for people ultimately to vote for the best dancer, not the underdog or the non-star. If Jennifer doesn't win, then Kyle is certainly deserving, as Brandy would have been.

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  3. Bristol and Mark are a pure joy to watch. They have fun and as a result we (viewers) also have fun. Brandy was just a whiner from the very beginning. No one likes a whiner--hey Mr. Obambi.

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