On Wednesday’s The View on ABC, during a discussion of former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s standup comedy routine from Tuesday night’s Tonight Show on NBC, The View co-host Joy Behar downgraded Palin’s performance asserting that her confidence on stage came across as unusually "delusional" for a woman trying to do standup, and suggested that Palin is "almost delusional" to believe she could be President: "The thing that fascinates me about her is her confidence as a standup. It took me so long to get that confidence. It’s the same confidence that she has that she thinks she could be President. It’s almost delusional."
After co-host Sherri Shepherd theorized that having confidence would help Palin run for President, Behar went on to suggest that Palin does not really plan on such a run because choosing to work at FNC would make her seem too conservative to appeal to moderates and, though she may have been referring to Democrats with presidential ambitions as she seemed to ignore MSNBC figures like Chris Matthews, Lawrence O’Donnell, Chuck Todd and Howard Dean who all have histories of involvement with the Democratic party, Behar went on to assert that "you don’t see the Democrats hosting shows on MSNBC."
Behar: "Don’t you think that the fact that she’s a commentator at Fox positions her to be too far to the right to be attractive to middle Americans, to people who are moderate? ... but if you’re too far, you don’t see the Democrats hosting shows on MSNBC."
Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the Wednesday, March 3, The View on ABC:
JOY BEHAR: I could say a few things. First of all, the botox joke was an easy laugh, so I wouldn’t have even bothered with that. ... That’s a hacky joke, and the writer should be yelled at for that one. The Tina Fey joke was good, on the other hand, because it was about her, and she took the shot against herself. That was great. The thing that fascinates me about her is her confidence as a standup. It took me so long to get that confidence. It’s the same confidence that she has that she thinks she could be President. It’s almost delusional.
...
SHERRI SHEPHERD: I think that that confidence that Sarah Palin has, she must, she must, if she wants to run for President, she better have that kind of confidence because she’s running against all those men.
BARBARA WALTERS: But then you have to say, does doing this, does being a standup comic help you in your road to the presidency?
ELISABETH HASSELBECK: Well, I don’t think this is a new career for her. I think anyone who thinks she’s moving into standup comedy-
BEHAR: But don’t you think, don’t you think that the fact that she’s a commentator at Fox positions her to be too far to the right to be attractive to middle Americans, to people who are moderate? She’s not positioning herself to be President. But she’s a celebrity more than a politician now.
HASSELBECK: Is she outed now because shew’s speaking about conservative issues and trying to get-
BEHAR: No, but if you’re too far, you don’t see the Democrats hosting shows on MSNBC.
WALTERS: Well, they haven’t been asked to.
