Tips for stress relief for Sarah Palin after the campaign
Back at work, Palin vents a bit over campaign criticism – the latest heading in the local language newspaper. Continued stress and pressure are bound to be the order of the day for Sarah. This will continue for some time.
If you look at the research on stress levels of politicians, you will have to read Cary Cooper’s research. He says that within six months there are significantly elevated stress levels for politicians. Before Sarah failed in her vice president race I was predicting her levels of stress.
The stress markers that are usually reported for new politicians include the usual symptoms. Loss of confidence is one of the interesting ones. It is not unusual that politicians under stress have problems sleeping, eat and drink too much, they lose motivation and they show evidence of constant strain.
As we all know, Barack Obama and Joe Biden are president elect and VP elect. So Sarah doesn’t have to cope with national level stress. However she does have to deal with her gubernatorial pressures returning as governor of Alaska. It must be a difficult task to adapt to the small state issues after such a heady campaign.
America was impressed with Sarah as a vigorous debater and an attractive politician. As vice president on the Republican ticket, she had to assume the role of Democrat attack dog. This has alienated her within the state because she formerly promoted the notion that she is bipartisan.
In today’s paper it was reported that she was asked how she could rebuild bipartisan relationships now that she is back in Alaska. The front page also highlights two different legal views of her role in Troopergate. There is no doubt that the opposition in government will be questioning her husband role in government, travel expenses for her children and ethics issues.
It was inevitable that Sarah Palin would attract significant post-campaign criticism. She has had to defend the comments of unknown staffers that she didn’t know Africa was a continent. She rejected the notion that she went on a crazy spending spree on Republican money. She’ll have to defend many such criticisms in the weeks ahead.
It will be interesting to see who tries to scapegoat Sarah Palin in the weeks to come. There has to be continuing interest in her because of the constant calls for Sarah as president in 2012. A strong sense of purpose and clear values, together with obvious family support, will be her best defense against critical onslaughts. She is going to need a great deal of assistance to manage and reduce the inevitable stress on her return to Alaska.