Despite featuring a “politics blog,” the website for Sarah Palin's Alaska has repeatedly (and incredibly) insisted that the television show featuring the potential Republican presidential candidate doesn't have anything to do with politics. That's obviously false even if one applies a narrow definition the word “politics” -- the show has featured Palin's anti-tax rhetoric, and the website has acknowledged “Sarah Palin will make remarks during the show that will be explicitly and implicitly political.” But there's a broader political aspect to the show as well, as I've explained:

Palin has indicated she's thinking about running for president, and carefully choreographed footage of rugged outdoor activity and loving families is a time-honored tactic of politicians trying to get elected to office. Basically, Sarah Palin got TLC to pay her $1 million an episode for the right to help her promote her brand.

Here's a preview of last night's episode that supports that point:

This Sunday's episode of Sarah Palin's Alaska features Sarah hunting caribou with her father and a family friend on the tundra of Alaska. …

[F]or a political figure, hunting takes on a whole different level of meaning. …

Maybe it's that hunting shows support for the Second Amendment and is an implicit nod to the NRA and its supporters. Maybe it's that hunting can also be a tip of the hat to the common man and woman. Whatever the reason, politicians of all stripes in America like to show up in the media with rifle or shotgun in hand while in pursuit of prey. …

As America has become more urban, politicians hunting has evolved from regular everyday occurrences into the quintessential photo opportunity. …

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Sarah Palin wasn't a stranger to the campaign hunting photo-op with some people voicing support and others panning the gesture. For those who doubted the authenticity of the hunting photos, tuning in this Sunday at 9/8c on TLC might help clear up those rumors.

So: Politicians, including Sarah Palin, have long used the “hunting photo-op” in order to appeal “to the common man and woman.” Sarah Palin is a politician who is thinking of running for president, and is using Sarah Palin's Alaska to demonstrate the “authenticity” of her love for hunting. Nope, nothing political there!

And who wrote that preview that so thoroughly undermines the claim that there's nothing political about Sarah Palin's Alaska? Why, the good folks at Sarah Palin's Alaska!

And one other piece of evidence of the political nature of the show, from Sarah Palin herself: “You'll also see us hunting at the edge of ANWR, where you can see the uninhabited lands that warehouse billions of barrels of American energy supplies underground just waiting for the political will to allow responsible resource development.”