Is Sarah Palin Evita Peron?

Today and Friday, we watched Evita in history class. This was, unfortunately, the second time I've seen the movie. Once was more than enough.

The second time, however, I noticed something about Madonna's portrayal of the former Argentine First Lady that I didn't see before. Her story is oddly similar to another leading lady in politics...the not-so-lovely Sarah Palin.

Now, I'm basing my knowledge of Evita Peron only on what the movie shows, which, as my Evita Peron expert-in-residence Rachel Ritter has informed, is pretty much entirely inaccurate.

I say historical accuracy is overrated. Kind of like Sarah Palin thinks evolutionary theory is overrated.

So let's begin with the similarities: Palin and Duarte-Peron both provide an "everyman" tone to their campaigns. Eva came from rural Argentina; Sarah came from the most rural place in America. They both grew up outside of the upper class and they let everyone know it. Eva says: "[Peron] supports you, for he loves you; understands you, is one of you. If not, how could he love me?" Palin says "I'm a hockey mom so John and I understand your problems." This personal history combined with particularly incisive rhetoric has made both of them the rabble rousers of the campaign, their men the more lackluster politicians.

Palin and Peron were also both used as appeals for female support. Eva went so far as to create a branch off of her husband's party, the Peronist Feminists. Her speeches to women were used to assure them that Peron was most attuned to their needs. Palin has done the same. She hasn't exactly created her own women's political party, but she did invoke Hillary Clinton and Geraldine Ferraro early on in her campaign. Perhaps she's considering creating something like Eva's party - a bipartisan exclusive club for the women who got really, really close.

Both women also spent lots to look good. Eva instructed her advisors: "Christian Dior me, Lauren Bacall me, Machiavelme." (Incidentally, these may be the only clever lyrics in the entire musical). Even though she represented the poor, she wanted to be a symbol of glamour, a near-goddess to admire. Palin still evokes the "I'm one of you" look, yet recent reports say that the campaign spent somewhere around $150,000 on her clothes. This is still a loose connection, however. In all fairness, Palin did need a lot of new clothes for a long campaign season, and she's still a far cry from Lauren Bacall. (And Humphrey Bogart is a long way away from the possible future First Dude).

The last similarity I found between them is their attitudes towards the press. Peron destroyed the press that criticized or opposed her. Critical journalists were jailed. Palin simply brushes aside the press as liberal hogwash.

As the movie concluded, however, I found that my Venn Diagram, which had formerly been bursting at the middle, was growing on the sides.

Eva sings consistently of a "New Argentina," but, as Obama likes to point out, Palin promises "more of the same." Their methods of gaining political power also differ drastically. Eva slept her way to the top; Palin just got lucky.

And I don't think it would be proper to write a post about Evita without mentioning the Europe scene.

"Stand back, mighty Europe!" says Madonna, as she makes her way through Spain, Italy and France. She is met like a celebrity in Spain, a fascist in Italy, and mostly loved by the French until she became ill. She concludes the song with: "You want to know what you're gonna get in me? Just a little bit of Argentina's finest star quality." While her Europe trip had mixed results, the fanfare and applause she drew was far more reminiscent of Obama's summer trip than Palin's campaign performance. Obama is the definition of American star quality. Palin is more like a dangerous meteor shower.

As the campaign comes to a close, I don't find it difficult to imagine Governor Palin on a gloomy November 5 singing "Don't cry for me, America." The difference between Palin's version and Madonna's is that I don't think America will actually be crying.

So to answer the initial question: is Sarah Palin Evita Peron? Not really. At all.

This is a kind of disappointing conclusion; I was really excited when I thought of the connection.

Although...maybe it's for the best. If Palin were too similar to Eva, Tina Fey would never have the opportunity to star in a movie-musical called Sarah; right now that's the only positive thing I see coming out of a McCain/Palin administration.