It seems like every time you turn on a television talk show these days, you run into the secretary of Homeland Security (and former Arizona governor), Janet Napolitano. I’m not talking about the classic news & issues shows such as Meet the Press, Face the Nation or Fox News Sunday. Nor am I talking about her frequent press conferences on the 24-hour cable news to talk about the H1N1 flu.
Napolitano has been venturing out into other venues that have become popular for politicians who want to connect with audiences not fascinated with politics. She started in July with appearances on Real Time with Bill Maher and the Charlie Rose show (which still have audiences with a high political IQ). Then on Monday, she really went mainstream by dropping by for coffee with the ladies on The View (see below) followed by a visit with the fake news meister Jon Stewart. Any day now, I expect to see her laughing with David Letterman or Jay Leno.
Why does this matter? For years, Napolitano was known in Arizona political circles to desire a seat in the U.S. Senate, although she didn’t seem too eager to try and wrestle an election away from John McCain or Jon Kyl. McCain, in particular, built a national following during the 2000 presidential campaign with his appearances on talk shows traditionally viewed as “not serious news.” Most other presidential candidates have tried the same thing since then, leading to one former candidate getting his own talk show.
Napolitano would seem to be following the McCain model. It’s something she doesn’t have to do as a cabinet secretary, and trying to be funny as a non-comedian has plenty of PR dangers, which President Barack Obama learned during a March appearance with Leno.
But these appearances offer some real upsides – such as national fundraising — should Napolitano run for the Senate somewhere down the road.
Here’s a video of Napolitano’s appearance on The View:
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Well she must have learned from the master, John McCain himself. If a camera has a red light on, McCain will be there, hence I label him as R-Media, rather than R-Arizona.