Eskimomentum!

Maybe I'm just being some sort of elitist liberal PC grievance-monger here, but was I the only one who thought there was something distinctly weird about Sarah Palin's role in SNL's rap sketch on Saturday? In the skit, Palin sits by and bobs her head while Amy Poehler delivers a gangsta-rap style rendition that Palin has ostensibly been supposed to perform--full of references to  Joe the Plumber, moose-hunting, "drill, baby, drill" and Bill Ayres. No problems there, albeit not necessarily the sort of thing that suggests Palin sees herself as about to win high office.

But the odd thing was that Poehler/Palin's backup crew included a pair of parka-wearing, fur mitten-clad dancers who answered to "Eskimo," as in: "How you feel, Eskimo?" "Ice Cold!" I guess Alaska politics really work differently. I'm just trying to imagine, say, a governor of South Dakota bobbing along with a skit featuring a duo of stereotypically-dressed Native Americans ("How you feel, Indian?" "Red hot!"). PC or not, most pols don't want to chance offending any ethnic group that makes up a hefty chunk of their electorate--in Palin's case, roughly 20 percent, including some members of her husband's part Yup'ik Eskimo family. Last week, Palin's rural advisor quit in the face of criticism over the governor's record of hiring Alaska Natives. I'm not sure sure what impact the skit will have in the event Palin needs to return her focus to just winning votes in the 49th State.

--Michael Schaffer