By Jason Tolbert
Over the last decade, we have become a society obsessed with reality shows. That culture seems to be bleeding over to presidential politics.
How so?
Well, three of the top contenders — at least to some degree — are already reality show stars. Donald Trump of NBC’s “The Apprentice,” Mike Huckabee of Fox News’ “Huckabee,” and Sarah Palin of “Sarah Palin’s Alaska” all are mentioned in the same breath as Republican Primary 2012.
In fairness, unlike the winners of Big Brother or Survivor, these three were well-known pre-primetime TV.
Donald Trump’s fame was mostly based on being filthy rich. A real estate developer and owner of hotels and casinos across the country, Trump’s net wealth is somewhere in the millions, although no one really knows for sure. He has practiced a tradition of putting his name “Trump” on virtually everything he owns, increasing the public perception of him as a mega-rich guy.
In 2004, he became more of a household name when he “starred” in a an elimination-style reality show that had contestants compete for a job as his apprentice. Each week, viewers tuned in to hear him say “you’re fired” to the guest leaving the show. In last week’s celebrity episode, he said those words to LaToya Jackson.
The former Arkansas governor also has become quite the celebrity. Huckabee failed in his attempt to win the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 but displayed enough charm, quick wit and ability to play the bass guitar to catch the eye of Roger Ailes at Fox News, who gave Huckabee a weekend show.
“Huckabee” has become a success often at the top of the cable news network ratings for the Saturday night time slot in its two years-plus on the air. In addition, Huckabee has a successful daily radio broadcast filling the void left by the late Paul Harvey; he rakes in a nice speaker’s fee on the conservative chicken-dinner circuit, and he manages to turn out a book about once a year that sells relatively well.
All this has allowed Huckabee to achieve a degree of financial success he never enjoyed during his years as governor or pastor in Arkansas. He now is building his multi-million-dollar dream home on the beaches of income-tax-free Florida.
Similarly, Palin’s background as mayor of the small town of Wasilla and a half-term as governor of Alaska did not draw much nationwide attention until John McCain chose her seemingly out of thin air to be his vice presidential choice in 2008. The McCain-Palin Campaign was not successful but Palin became a celebrity of conservative Republicans and the Tea Party movement.
Palin parlayed her fame into very well-compensated public speaking appearances, a couple of top-selling books and most recently a weekly show on The Learning Channel.
Billed as a documentary on Alaska with Palin as host, one episode focused quite a bit on the personal family life of Palin. In one segment, Palin guarded a teenage suitor of her daughter from going into her upstairs bedroom.
With the star power possessed by these three, it is no real surprise that they joust with one another for the top spot among Republican presidential candidates in most opinion polls. But the Republican nomination is not decided in the same format as American Idol. Instead, it is fought in the cold winters of the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary, where voters demand a retail-style of politics, not a marketed image.
The question is whether any of the three will decide to leave the fame, comfort and profits of their celebrity lives to slug it out in a crowded primary field for the chance to take on an incumbent President Barack Obama.
And if they do, is it possible they will complete the reality-show-takeover of our culture by becoming the first reality star to win the Oval Office?
Jason Tolbert
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Jason Tolbert is an accountant and conservative political blogger. His blog — The Tolbert Report — is linked at ArkansasNews.com. His e-mail is jason@TolbertReport.com.
