1 BECAUSE, WHATEVER YOU think of her conservative politics on ABC's The View, "Hot Topics" would never have reached such combustible highs during the election season without the excitable Hasselbeck. Joy Behar needed a foil to sharpen her liberal repartee, and it sure wasn't going to be Whoopi Goldberg. The Founding Fathers would have been proud to see Hasselbeck throw herself into such spirited debate. Though they might have asked her to turn her mic down.
2 BECAUSE SHE ALSO provides a cautionary example of how difficult it can be in America to express an unpopular opinion against a majority—and those other ladies on The View make up quite a powerful force. Hasselbeck never gave up, even as her chirpiness frayed into brittle hysteria (something captured very well by Kristen Wiig's impersonation on Saturday Night Live).
3 BECAUSE, POST ELECTION, she conceded John McCain's loss graciously, launching a calm transition into a liberal era. Now back to talking about Dancing with the Stars.
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