Japan watches the US Presidential election
Almost all the news coverage in Japan about the US presidential election used to be about the drama in the Democratic Party, but Variety reports that Japanese viewers are now taking an interest in the drama surrounding John McCain’s selection of Sarah Palin as his running mate:
For the Japanese, Palin is the big story, and before Palin came along, it was Hillary Rodham Clinton.
“There was very big interest in the primary between Hillary and Barack Obama,” Sugita said. The hook was the breaking of barriers that the contest represented: Americans were going to nominate either the first African American or the first woman to the head of a major party ticket.
But it was Hillary who generated the most attention.
“When she was running, it provoked a very big debate in Japan about how far a woman can go, and it exposed a lot of hidden thoughts both in how men think of women and how women think of themselves,” Sugita said.
When Hillary dropped out, Japanese readers continued to follow Obama but were not much interested in McCain until he named Palin as his running mate, Sugita continued.
“She has a strong character and she is also very beautiful,” he said. “She is kind of a role model for Japanese women who pursue a career path and are also a mother and wife.”
Palin’s speech Wednesday night was “very much viewed” in Japan. Big issues in the election – the economy, the two wars, the healthcare system – “aren’t really understood or interesting to Japanese,” Sugita said. “But character issues are big interest because everyone can join in the debate.”
An example of Japanese reporting on Palin can be found in this NTV report, which sent staff to Alaska to check out Palin’s hometown and talk with residents:
The focus is on her lifestyle in Alaska and the political success she found as mayor of a small town and governor of the state. Her parents are briefly interviewed, providing some positive statements about their daughter. There is also an interview with a friend of Palin’s who claims that her experience in the Miss Wasilla pageant helped prepare her for public office. The report closes with the announcer making a brief mention of accusations that Palin may not have enough experience to serve as a good president, and that she will be fighting to prove otherwise.
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It’s kind of depressing that her personality and “beauty,” and not her stance on issues, is sufficient to generate a lot of media attention. I realize the article is basically centered on one Japanese media pundit’s opinion, but still–Comparing Sarah Palin to Hillary Clinton as a valid role model is the part that’s degrading to women. Sarah Palin was hand picked to basically be a symbol to make a 72-year-old politician seem progressive and appeal to young voters. Hillary Clinton fought her way through the primaries and in the Senate.
Personally, I find Clinton grating and offensively wishy-washy as a politician, but there’s no doubt she was controlling the political game as was well as any of the old boys in Washington, D.C. Palin, on the other hand, is basically a playing piece in McCain’s game. Palin as a role model for women, if true, is just depressing.
Of course, Clinton owes her start in the senate to the fact that her husband was president. So maybe the lesson is that it still really is an old boys club, and there aren’t yet US presidential female candidates that you can really say “made it on their own steam.”
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Big issues in the election – the economy, the two wars, the healthcare system – “aren’t really understood or interesting to Japanese,” Sugita said.
They aren’t really understood by the Democrats either.
Sorry, the set up was irresistable, and besides, some Democrat is probably thinking the same joke about Republicans. [Except my version is more funny, because it's true.]
Still, the Democrats spinning and betrayal of their now-former feminism is amusing. I don’t really love Palin, but she didn’t marry into power, nor have to leave her home state to get elected.
And then Dems crying about it just being a politcal trick, as if nominating the half-black Obama and then calling any of his critics “racist” isn’t.
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When has anyone from the democratic camp called comments racist?
Also, read above for my explanation as to why Hillary (for whom I honestly have no fondness) may be viewed as a ’step forward’ for women, while Palin may not. It’s true she didn’t marry into power and so on, but she also hasn’t really done much of anything deserving of a VP nomination.
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You earn a VP nomination by being able to help your candidate win. You can 1) be from a swing state, 2) shore up your party’s base or influence independents, or 3) get more votes for your candidate from a particular part of society (i.e. women).
McCain picked Palin because she’ll get him more support from the Republican base and because she’ll help him get more female votes, particularly those women who supported Hillary largely because she’s a woman but aren’t too high on Obama. She has an 80% approval rate in Alaska, so she must have been doing something right at the state level. Will it carry over on the national level? Was it a smart choice? Nobody knows until election day.
Obama picked Biden because he needed someone with experience, because while Obama has plenty of ideals, he doesn’t have a long track record. It’s not a flashy pick, but he had no real option other than to choose a Washington veteran.
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Andrew–I agree with your entire post.
My point wasn’t about whether Palin will help, just whether she really deserves to be a role model for women in the same way Hillary arguably was (by -doing- things worthy of the P/VP nomination). I think we agree, but if your argument is that she will attract female voters and thus “deserves” the VP slot, I think the issue is that I consider “deserves” to imply something “earned,” not given because of one’s gender.
Anyway, I don’t know much about Japan, but I believe women are still more gender-role forced than in America, so who knows, maybe they’re both a step up for Japan. It’s beyond my knowledge to say more.
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“[Except my version is more funny, because it's true.]”
You have no idea how funny you are
Intentionally at that 
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Unintentionally at that!
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Palin: “Let’s shatter that glass ceiling that Hillary cracked!”
…and prove once and for all how far women can make it: Vice President.
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Level3, half-black is black enough for most Americans, as I’m sure you know. Why, I hear having 1/32nd African ancestry used to be “black” over there.
And no disrespect to Palin, but her nomination was a political trick. A young female Republican governor who’s pro-life and pro-gun rights? How many of those can you find? Being able to find a woman who supports the conservatives’ patriarchal ideas must have been a coup for the GOP. So they get to have a first female candidate as a counter to the Democrats’ first black candidate, without actually having to change the way the system works. Ingenious.
They might have done even better with another black candidate, but I read that there weren’t all that many blacks (or any other minority, for that matter) at the Republican National Convention, were there? I wonder why?
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Any with a non-interventionalist foreign policy.
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Pat Buchanan! Yea!
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How about a “who cares?” option in the voting? McCain, Obama, whoever… Next January America gets a new President. Don’t know who it will be, don’t care who it will be, but whoever it is he will be the President Americans deserve.
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Yeah. I don’t really care who wins (since I’m not a US citizen), I just hope that whoever it is doesn’t screw stuff.
E.g., nuking everyone and whatnot.
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