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Conversation | 11/18/2008 9:45 am

Candice Bergen: What Murphy Brown Would Have Said About Sarah Palin

A Conversation with Candice Bergen, Cynthia McFadden and Liz Smith on the Palin Effect
CANDICE: Well, it’s very hard not to have had the show during this because it just is such a feast. Murphy was thrown out of the White House by the Clintons on a number of occasions, but I think Murphy would have reconciled with Hillary, who she might have overlapped with at Wellesley, and would have supported Hillary until Hillary dropped out, and then just thrown everything behind Obama – which is sort of what I did.

LIZ: But, Murphy was a correspondent. Would they have thrown her off of the network?

CANDICE: Oh, well, she would have had to have done it, subversively, of course.

LIZ: Yes, she would have been chomping at the bit all the time.

CYNTHIA: I think she would have had an interview with Sarah Palin. What do you think?

CANDICE: Oh, God, that would have been fantastic.

CYNTHIA: Wouldn’t you have loved that?

LIZ: Well, I know that Candy doesn’t wish to die young, so there’s no way Murphy could come back. But, God, it would be great if Murphy could come back.

CANDICE: As long as Sarah Palin remained peak entertainment and wasn’t elected, what a galvanizing moment.

LIZ: Well, I think she’ll become a really interesting, polarizing point because she presents the Republican party with a real dilemma. Are they going her way or are they going to ever go back to being the "establishment conservatives" they were once — the elite, the rich, the privileged.

CYNTHIA: Well, I can tell you, on that lawn in Phoenix on election night, people were furious that Sarah Palin didn’t speak. They wanted to hear from Sarah. She definitely had spoken to a deep segment of the Republican party and it’ll be interesting to see what happens next. 

LIZ: What was the reason she didn’t speak?

CYNTHIA: Oh, it was complicated. You know, Joe Biden didn’t speak either. But there was something going on and I can tell you only what happened. We first got notification that she was going out – presumably to speak, prior to John McCain taking the podium. But we all went out to be in position. About 15 minutes after that we got an e-mail from her press secretary saying that she was not going to speak and might not even be on the podium, or on the stage. Now, the speculation has been — I don’t know that this is true or not true — the speculation was that she was in fact prepared to speak, and that she was told by the McCain people that she would not be speaking, and wasn’t too happy about that. Clearly there was trouble in paradise. It’s not McCain and Palin themselves. Their staffs had it with each other by that point. We’ve seen some of that in the press in the last few days.

LIZ: Well, ladies, we haven’t heard the end of her yet. A lot of people delight in her and she drives a lot of other people crazy. So you see, we aren’t done yet. If she stays in the Republican party in a very large manner, it sure won’t be the party of William Buckley anymore, will it? I mean, it’ll be a party not of devout intellectuals but only of evangelicals and really right-wing people. And I hate to say this, a lot of people that don’t think very straight, in my humble opinion. So it’ll either kill the Republican party or the party could persevere because of Sarah Palin. That would be very bad, in my opinion.

189 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Delete This
Mandy, Palin is a hick of an ignorant mess and my only hope is that she is indicted on Troopergate charges…and contrary to popular myth that isn’t behind her. The GOP is dead…and Palin is their pathetic last hope….it has nothing to do with sexism and everything to do with idiocy for which she is so emblematic. I expect to see her trounced everytime she rears her ignorant, racist, hate-spewing know-nothing head.
By Delete This on 11/18/2008 6:50 pm
Irish Eyes NY
So, carmel-by-the-cesspool: The GOP is dead………is that what you wrote? Well, wouldn’t you and the rest of your ilk love it if it was true. That would mean the USA would be a “one party” country. Now would’nt you Marxist, Liberal socialists just love that. Of course, that would also mean this would be a communist dictatorship. I wonder where all your hatred comes from?? Your a mean hateful person, maybe you should consider getting some help and definately some meds.
By Irish Eyes NY on 11/22/2008 8:26 pm
lynn burghoff
Carmel you are a vile and hateful person. Get some help soon! Everyone said the GOP was dead after watergate too and look what happened in 1980.
By lynn burghoff on 11/28/2008 1:36 am
Lorraine Bates
Palin was the “best thing on the Republican ticket” ? That says it all, doesn’t it? It’s hard to fight of negativism when you’re the one spouting it, isn’t it Mrs. Governor?
By Lorraine Bates on 11/25/2008 8:59 am
Barbara Taylor
Take a valium, wine or the ocean waves are not helping.
By Barbara Taylor on 11/18/2008 4:52 pm
Delete This
Mandy/Barbara, Neither do I need a valium, wine, or more ocean waves to clarify my thinking…but my condolences to both of you for being so regressive. The people have spoken, thankfully….and not for the knuckle-dragging ignorants that you so joyfully embrace: “He picked her because she appeals to the Know Nothing wing of the GOP. I’m not the first to suggest this. For example, check out Paul Krugman’s [Nobel Prize Winner…although I know that means nothing to GOP imbeciles} op-ed in The New York Times in August: “Know-nothingism — the insistence that there are simple, brute-force, instant — gratification answers to every problem, and that there’s something effeminate and weak about anyone who suggests otherwise — has become the core of Republican policy and political strategy. The party’s de facto slogan has become: ‘Real men don’t think things through.’” Whoa, wait a minute there, Krugman. Aren’t you being a little sexist? You forgot all about Sarah Palin! First a little history: The real Know Nothing Party was a movement embracing anti-immigrant, anti-naturalization sentiments in the mid-1850s. Interestingly, by the 1860 elections, most members had merged with the Republican Party. It’s tough to really picture politics back then, when we still had a Whig party and we hadn’t even had a civil war yet. So try this: Imagine a political party “empowered by popular fears that the country was being overwhelmed by… immigrants, who [a]re often regarded as hostile to US values.” Tough to envision, I know. The Know Nothings were nativists, who warned against the “others” in our society. You know, the “exotic” foreigners who may have different religions or upbringings than the majority of those in power. Palin is doing her best tightrope act on this one. But her coded language is carefully tailored to the Know Nothing wing of the Republican Party, and they’re listening. Now, the name of the Know Nothing Party is a little misleading. The party called itself the American or American-Republican Party. The story goes that they were so secretive, that when asked about the party’s dealings, members would reply, “I know nothing.” Thus, they became known as “know nothings.” In today’s political parlance, the phrase “know nothing” has taken on two meanings: nativism and ignorance. Which is why Palin is a perfect spokesperson. Palin has expressed ignorance on a range of issues so wide, that it’s hardly worth giving the scope of, but here goes: Who attacked us on 9/11 The origin of the Pledge of Allegiance The goings on in Iraq The Bush Doctrine What a VP does How much energy her state produces What Hamas is What being a member of NATO entails What causes global warming How to fill out a tax return correctly Any Supreme Court rulings she disagrees with, besides that one about abortion The name of any major newspaper or magazine she reads I’m sure there’s more (feel free to remind me of what I’ve forgotten below), but I’m getting a little worn out just thinking about it. Maybe I should take a page out of Palin’s book and just stop thinking so darn much. Sarah Palin has taken lack of knowledge to a whole new level and embraced ignorance. She’s said herself that she doesn’t think, er blink, when she has to make a life-changing decision. I’m sure if you asked Palin in a friendly room if she were anti-intellectual, she’d say yes. She asked a Wasilla librarian what it would take to remove books she found offensive from the local library. She’s against comprehensive sex-education. She wants schools to teach children creationism. She’s anti-science. Long story short: Palin is not satisfied with simply stemming the tide of her own informational intake. She wants to remove educational opportunities for America’s children as well. And the way she drags her school-aged children around the campaign trail doesn’t inspire much confidence in her educational values either. There are plenty of happy, IGNORANT people in this country. But the fact that we have to reach back to the mid-19th century to find a party that embraced ignorance to the degree that we see in today’s GOP should say something about the false correlation between the McCain/Palin ticket and the idea of change for the better. Barbara/Mandy….so proud to be members of the Know Nothings…BTW in which Red State do you live? You know, as in the marry-your-first-cousin-ignorant broken down cars all over the Red States…that we Blue States must support?? Anyone who supports Palin..speaks for themselves…and NOTHING good…just really pathetic.
By Delete This on 11/18/2008 6:46 pm
Delete This
If that isn’t clear enough…. back to your trailer parks Palin supporters.
By Delete This on 11/18/2008 6:51 pm
beth willis
Stop that, Suzanne, or we’ll think you are a liberal limousine Democrat, spouting economic stereotypes. Keep this in mind, children never choose where they live. If they grow up in a trailer park, the upper east side in Manhattan, Beverly Hills or Appalachia, they were just born into that environment. Peace and grace
By beth willis on 11/21/2008 4:41 pm
Barbara Taylor
BTW in which Red State do you live?” Last time I looked California was a blue state. Your anger causes bad judgement. Now is not the time for anger which causes divided among us.
By Barbara Taylor on 11/18/2008 7:10 pm
Delete This
Barbara, Living in Northern CA I often forget about those awful pockets…Orange Country…etc. It’s not anger but total disgust, revulsion, and also gratitude that am not a part of the loathsome, dispicable, destructive GOP of today, which you are so proudly a part.
By Delete This on 11/19/2008 6:46 pm
Barbara Taylor
Hum, again wrong. I don’t live in Orange County. I think your anger is destructive to this country. Working together would be much more productive.
By Barbara Taylor on 11/19/2008 7:16 pm
DeBúrca obj
Excellent post! But… it is so full of facts that you MUST be one of those “elitists” from one of those “anti-American” parts of the country.
By DeBúrca obj on 11/18/2008 8:11 pm
Ro H
Carmel-by-the-Sea, But, how do you REALLY feel about Palin? Painly? Paltry-partisan-purist-panty-pasty-pollarist-pathetic-person? KUDOS to you, very well written, my friend… Thanks for making my day, again! Ro
By Ro H on 11/19/2008 12:10 am
Delete This
Ro…HA!!!
By Delete This on 11/19/2008 6:47 pm
MaryPage Drake
SUCH a relief to hear someone list some facts. A breath of fresh, real, BREATHABLE air! Anti-fact folk like Sarah Palin scare this old lady into locking doors and trembling.
By MaryPage Drake on 11/19/2008 8:37 am