Sarah Palin's Not-So-Secret Political Advisor: Todd Palin

Posted by Kathy G, The G-Spot at 3:02 PM on September 15, 2008.

I'm happy to see that the role Todd Palin plays in his wife's administration is finally beginning to get some serious scrutiny. Todd Palin appears to be his wife's most important adviser by far. But he hasn't been elected, nor does he hold any official position in his wife's government. He appears to be enormously powerful, yet he's essentially unaccountable -- and that's a scary combination.


Todd Palin has no qualifications in politics whatsoever that I am aware of -- yet his role is unprecedented. Does the spouse of any other governor in America regularly attend important government meetings? Is the spouse of any other governor in America regularly cc'd on the governor's emails? Is the spouse of any other governor in America so deeply involved in the workings of their spouse's administration?  Does the spouse of any other governor in America participate so extensively in virtually every political decision their spouse makes?




People were worried that Bill Clinton would have undue influence in a Hillary administration. But Bill's credentials to advise his wife on political matters are (pardon the awful play on words) unimpeachable.

But Todd Palin?  Excuse me, but just where the hell  does he get off?  He never even went to college. He's a professional snow machine racer, fer chrissakes!



We should be giving Todd Palin considerably more scrutiny. And the media should be asking Sarah Palin whether, if she is elected vice president, Todd will continue to be her top adviser, and will continue to attend high-level meetings, be cc'd on official correspondence, and be intimately involved all high-level political decisions.



Todd's hyper-involvement is downright weird. The fact that only now is it beginning to raise eyebrows is proof positive of what a complete and unadulterated farce the nomination of this laughably clueless, dangerously ignorant, and manifestly unqualified woman has been. That so many people have seemed to shrug their shoulders at the clear signs that, in her professional life, Palin is utterly dominated by her own husband, is ample evidence that this woman simply isn't taken seriously. People don't judge her by the same standards as they would any other governor. And that is alarming, to say the least.

The other reason Todd's role gets so little scrutiny is that Palin's legion of wingnut fans seem just fine with it. They smugly assume that men should be in charge anyway. So to them, if Todd Palin is the true power behind the throne, that's A-OK. The dominating role he plays in her professional life is, for them, a feature, not a bug.

Tagged as: vice president, palin, sarah, todd

Kathy G Runs The G-Spot blog.