This blog will recount only facts, no opinions. It will provide links to Sarah Palin's activities on a daily basis, and the news reports on those activities. As the Presidential race heats up, the activies of all Presidential candidates will also be detailed here.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Washington Post: The FIx: Sarah Palin's Mike Huckabee problem

Sarah Palin's Mike Huckabee problem
By Aaron Blake and Felicia Sonmez
1. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said Monday that Sarah Palin might well "run away" with the Republican nomination for president.

It's funny Huckabee should say such a thing, because he's got a lot of say over whether she does just that. And it has to do with whether he even runs in the first place.

As potential 2012 candidates weigh their prospects and determine their plans for the next presidential race, one thing is clear: that Huckabee and Palin inhabit largely the same space -- i.e. they each would perform well without the other, but they might undercut each other if they are in the same race.

There is currently a four-candidate top-tier consisting of Palin, Huckabee, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. And indeed, a new Quinnipiac University poll on Monday showed the four of them all huddled between 15 and 19 percent of the vote.

But while Romney and Gingrich have pretty broad support, the base of support for Huckabee and Palin is readily apparent, and for both of them, it starts with born-again evangelicals. The two of them combine for 46 percent of that vote, compared to just 26 percent for Gingrich and Romney. Palin and Huckabee are also the top two vote-getters among women and people without college degrees.

So why is that important? Because if any of the four frontrunners seems least likely to run for president, it would be Huckabee. And, if he doesn't take the plunge, where is his 26 percent share of evangelicals going to go? Where is his 18 percent share of women going? Who gets his 17 percent share of those without college degrees?

The obvious answer to all three of those questions is Palin. Gingrich has been married three times and has some baggage to show for it. Romney's ability to connect with rural, Christian voters, meanwhile, remains suspect because of his Mormonism.

It's hard to see Palin having a path to victory that doesn't include Iowa or South Carolina, and both of those early states happened to be Huckabee's strongest in 2008 (he won Iowa and came in second in the Palmetto State).

At a speech Monday in the Hawkeye State, Huckabee went on to joke that, if he does run, "I prefer she not and that she endorse me."

He's only half kidding. They each stand to lose plenty by seeing the other one in the race.

2. Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D-Texas) has conceded his reelection race to Republican Rep.-elect Blake Farenthold, handing Republicans a net gain of 62 seats this cycle.

The results of a recount were expected to be completed Monday night, and Ortiz doesn't appear to have made up enough ground to overcome his 799-vote deficit.

Farenthold's win goes down as one of the most surprising of the cycle. Ortiz was not considered a top target until the closing days of the campaign, and his district is heavily Hispanic. Farenthold is a former talk radio host.

With that race drawing to a close, four unresolved races remain, with the GOP still hoping for victory in two key New York races.

New York Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop has taken a slim lead in the Empire State's 1st district race, with an edge over Republican Randy Altschuler of 16 votes out of more than 190,000 cast.

The vote tally shifted in Bishop's favor as the absentee ballot count continued Monday. Both camps are also sparring over contested ballots; the count is expected to continue this week, although the status of the challenged ballots may not be known until next week.

Meanwhile, in the state's 25th District, Rep. Dan Maffei (D) trails Republican Ann Marie Buerkle by more than 550 votes. Attorneys for both camps agreed on Monday to postpone their planned court date until Wednesday; the meeting was originally slated to take place this morning.

Pressure appears likely to mount on Maffei to concede given that Buerkle's lead now looks insurmountable. In a statement, Maffei's camp said that it is "reviewing the re-canvass and audit documentation that the counties are providing."

3. Minnesota's Supreme Court justices on Monday denied a petition by state Rep. Tom Emmer (R) that would require election officials to match up ballots with voter rolls in the state's gubernatorial contest.

The announcement came shortly after justices heard oral arguments in the case Monday afternoon. Former Sen. Mark Dayton (D) currently leads Emmer by 8,770 votes.

At issue was the state's process for reconciling the number of ballots cast with the signatures on local voter registration rolls. Emmer's team wanted the state to require that local officials ensure no more ballots were cast on Election Day than there are signatures on the rolls; Dayton's team charged that Emmer's camp was trying to delay the outcome of the race.

The court's justices released their order on Monday afternoon, with the actual opinion to follow.

The State Canvassing Board, which meets today, is expected to call for a statewide hand recount of the more than two million ballots that were cast on Election Day. The recount is set to conclude by Dec. 14.

4. Alaska GOP Senate candidate Joe Miller has filed a lawsuit in state court in an attempt to keep his campaign alive.

Miller is seeking a ruling that would force elections officials to only count write-in votes for Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) if her name is spelled correctly. Currently, election officials are working under a voter-intent standard, which means slight misspellings could still be counted for Murkowski if the intent of the voter is clear.

The suit comes after a federal judge on Friday ruled that the issue was one for state courts and issued an injunction temporarily delaying certification of Murkowski's victory, provided Miller followed suit in state court on Monday.

Miller did so, meaning the race continues. The Associated Press has already called the race for Murkowski, who leads by more than 10,000 votes. Even if all ballots being challenged by Miller are thrown out by the court, Murkowski would still lead by more than 2,100 votes.

Miller is also requesting a hand recount.

5. Another Republican challenger has announced a bid to challenge Nebraska Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson, who is running for election to a third term in 2012.

Investment adviser Pat Flynn (R), who ran unsuccessfully for the GOP Senate nod in 2008, joins state Attorney General Jon Bruning (R), who announced earlier this month that he is running for the seat.

Flynn took 22 percent in the 2008 Senate primary, with Sen. Mike Johanns (R) winning the GOP nod and, ultimately, the general election.

On his campaign website, Flynn cited "individual freedom and individual responsibility," "economic freedom" and "limited but effective government" as among his principles.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

CNN: Palin's Reckless Views on Obesity

Palin's reckless views on obesity
By Roland S. Martin, CNN Senior Political Contributor
November 24, 2010 7:18 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Roland Martin says Sarah Palin slammed Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" anti-obesity campaign
He says Obama's site says obesity tripled in 30 years, diabetes in kids is up
He says a group of generals told Congress increasingly people are too overweight to serve
Martin: Palin's comments show she is reckless about the nation's health
Editor's note: Roland Martin is a syndicated columnist and author of "The First: President Barack Obama's Road to the White House." He is a commentator for TV One Cable network and host/managing editor of its Sunday morning news show, Washington Watch with Roland Martin.

(CNN) -- It's clear that we can't go 24 hours without Sarah Palin saying something so stupid that it defies logic, but leave it to the Kim Kardashian of politics to find something wrong with first lady Michelle Obama's effort to curb obesity in America's kids.

In a radio interview on Wednesday with conservative talker Laura Ingraham, Palin took dead aim at the first lady's "Let's Move" initiative, which is all about getting children active and involved in exercise and healthy eating.

In the wacky world of Wasilla's finest, Palin tries to cast the effort to fight obesity as part of Michelle Obama's "different worldview."

Here is a portion of the transcript from HuffingtonPost.com: "Take her anti-obesity thing that she is on. She is on this kick, right. What she is telling us is she cannot trust parents to make decisions for their own children, for their own families in what we should eat.



Targeting childhood obesity

The cost of obesity

Study: Obese teens become obese adults

Chef fights for healthy school meals
RELATED TOPICS
Michelle Obama
Obesity
Child Nutrition
Sarah Palin
"And I know I'm going to be again criticized for bringing this up, but instead of a government thinking that they need to take over and make decisions for us according to some politician or politician's wife priorities, just leave us alone, get off our back and allow us as individuals to exercise our own God-given rights to make our own decisions and then our country gets back on the right track."

Hmmm. "Let's Move" is Obama's "kick?" Maybe someone should kick Sarah Palin so she can understand how devastating obesity is to the future of the United States.

According to the first lady's "Let's Move" website:

• Obesity rates among children have tripled in the last three decades, and one in three children are obese.

• One-third of all children born after 2000 will suffer from diabetes.

• Children are less active today than at any other time in American history, spending 7.5 hours a day watching TV, playing video games or simply involved in efforts that don't require movement.

• Obesity is contributing to the vast increase in hypertension among Americans.

Now, since Palin is always talking about our nation's military and how we have to honor them and show them love and affection, let's listen to what a group of generals said a few months ago about obesity and America's national defense.

A study released in April by Mission: Readiness, a nonprofit group of more than 150 retired generals and admirals, concluded that 27 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds are too fat to join the military.

The culprit? Junk food and too much fat in school lunches.

Said the study: "Today, otherwise excellent recruiting prospects, some of them with generations of sterling military service in their family history, are being turned away because they are just too overweight. Our standards are high because we clearly cannot have people in our command who are not up to the job. Too many lives depend on it."

In testimony before Congress, the former head of the California Army National Guard, retired U.S. Army Major Gen. Paul Monroe, said that "80 percent of children who were overweight between the ages of 10 to 15 were obese by age 25."

He and other military leaders want Congress to enact a massive child nutrition bill to remove all junk food and high-calorie beverages from schools, improve nutrition standards in schools, upgrade school menus and, the group said, "help develop new school-based strategies, based on research, that help parents and children adopt healthier lifelong eating and exercise habits."

Monroe testified: "In 1946, Congress passed the National School Lunch Act as a matter of national security. In the past, retired admirals and generals have stood up to make it clear that America is only as healthy as our nation's children. Childhood obesity is now undermining our national security and we need to start turning it around today."

So, Sarah Palin, are you going to also rip into this decorated American and say that he and 150 other military leaders are dead wrong?

I recently sat down with Michelle Obama for a prime time special on TV One cable network dedicated to her "Let's Move" initiative. It was startling to listen to her talk about the horrible statistics and the shape we'll be in in the future, figuratively and literally.

"The crisis that we're facing around childhood obesity hits everything," Obama said. "It's about education, what our kids are learning about nutrition in the schools, the quality of the food in the schools. It's about our neighborhood development. How are neighborhoods designed?

"Are our kids -- do they have access to safe places to play? Are we structuring communities in a way that facilitates healthy living? Are there accessible and affordable healthy foods in our communities? And it's about economic opportunity as well, because if folks can't afford to put food on the table, then they're eating what they can.

"So this is one of those issues that requires us to talk about a little bit of everything. And it makes us look at ourselves a little more closely and it makes us look at the broader society. So we're beginning to understand this is a threat."

This latest broadside by Palin shows how reckless and ridiculous she is.

Libertarians and far right conservative Republicans are always talking about government intrusion into our lives, but when we look at clean water, air quality and food supply, thank God for governmental standards.

Don't think for a second I'm not paying attention. I've increased my health awareness, am changing my diet and working out more to lose weight, and am pushing family members to do the same. That's really the whole point of Michelle Obama's "Let's Move."

Any Republican with common sense should see that Sarah Palin poses an immediate threat to the future of this country. She proves that every time she opens her mouth.

Sarah, for the benefit of the nation, stick a fork in it.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Roland Martin.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Blog resumes Tuesday

Im visiting relatives without an internet connection, so this blog resumes Tuesday. Thanks for your patience.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Time: Palin E-Mail Hacker Meets His Destiny

Palin E-Mail Hacker Meets His Destiny


David Kernell, the former University of Tennessee student who hacked into Sarah Palin's e-mail account during the 2008 presidential campaign has been sentenced to one year in custody.

The 22-year-old was convicted of unauthorized access to a protected computer and destroying records to impede a federal investigation, while he was found not guilty of a separate wire-fraud charge. (A jury deadlocked over an identity theft charge.) Instead of prison time as was recommended by prosecutors, U.S. District Judge Thomas W. Phillips sentenced Kernell to one year and one day inside a halfway house, with a specific facility to be named later, as well as three years of probation.

An economics student who guessed his way passed Palin's Yahoo security questions to access her personal e-mail account, posted online that he was searching for information that would derail Palin's campaign for the vice-presidency. Kernell posted personal family photographs, screenshots of Palin's e-mails, family phone numbers and the account's password online. Palin, along with daughter Bristol, both testified against Kernell, claiming the incident caused their family emotional hardship. "As Watergate taught us, we rightfully reject illegally breaking into candidates' private communications for political intrigue in an attempt to derail an election," a post on Palin's Facebook page said.

Though Kernell has since apologized to Palin and her family, he should begin serving his term inside the halfway house, as well as recommended treatment for depression in about 45 days. (via AP)

The National Ledger: Sarah Palin's Alaska Premiere - Bristol Palin DWTS Confessions

Sarah Palin's Alaska Premiere - Bristol Palin DWTS Confessions

By Brenda Davis
Nov 14, 2010

Sarah Palin's Alaska will premiere this weekend. The hockey mom and political activist tuns into Sarah Palin, the reality star, in TLC's "Sarah Palin's Alaska." The new offering from the network airs Sunday night, Nov. 14th at 9 p.m. eastern/8 p.m. central time.

Sarah Palin's Alaska Premiere - Bristol Palin DWTS Confessions.


More family notes, and more reality TV.

DWTS hoofer Bristol Palin (pictured with partner Mark Ballas) believes she's made it so far on Dancing With The Stars because people can relate to her.


***


The 20 year-old has made it to the semi-finals of the hit US show and she said it's because people believe she is untainted by the world of celebrity.

She said to E! Online: "I think lots of people see themselves in me because I'm pretty untouched when it comes to celebrity status.


***


"I'm pretty raw and vulnerable when it comes to this whole thing. I'm just having fun and people see that."

Her dance partner Mark Ballas added: "When people watch the show, people see themselves. Bristol has no performance background, she has no dance background, and people think: 'Oh, that's what I'd look like!'"

AV Club: Sarah Palin's Alaska - "Mama Grizzly"

Sarah Palin's Alaska - "Mama Grizzly"
Sarah Palin's Alaska debuts tonight on TLC at 9 p.m. Eastern.

Making fun of Sarah Palin should feel like shooting fish in a barrel. And yet her popularity and influence, as evinced by the way the Tea Party she closely aligned herself with famously impacted the recent midterm election, makes any reservations I have about making fun of her preposterously loaded rhetoric dissipate almost instantly. Even the most apolitical moderate will likely see lipstick red while watching the image Palin projects of herself and her homespun conservative values in the first episode of Sarah Palin’s Alaska.

Palin begins the show by impressing the viewer with how oblivious she can be while trying to look unself-conscious. She jokes about how she “can see Alaska from here—almost,” shaking from side to side with mock laughter, as if the media took that quotation out of context in spite of the fact that the catchphrase in question is inherently contextless. That failed soundbite spoof is, in a nutshell, what’s wrong with the pilot of Sarah Palin’s America: There is no way to read it as anything but a context-free bit of propaganda that hits all the buttons Palin’s base supposedly enjoys and pretty much everyone else hates. Palin, her husband Todd and their brood (niece McKinley and daughters Willow and Piper; Bristol and Trig are hidden from view) enact a Disneyland vision of Americana as kitsch. They cut down trees, fire assorted shotguns, display assorted fish, watch grizzlies fight each other, and climb mountains—as a family. There’s no politics here, just a lot of soft images of Palin practicing what she preaches: family values for the pro-life, anti-gun control nuclear family of the 21st century.

The first problem with Palin’s rhetoric is that it lacks any kind of sincerity. Her speech is like a cajoling form of pantomime: During the show’s confessional, talking head interview segments, she looks like she’s treating her off-screen and always mute interviewers as if they were liberal adversaries, trying to undermine her ersatz values rather than elevate them to nigh-Olympian heights.

Next, there’s the way she exploits her family in order to make herself look like a beleaguered homemaker instead of a career politico. Piper, for example, is positioned as an adorable menace of the Dennis variety: To get her mother’s attention, she calls her Sarah, and she even licks raw cupcake batter right off of a whisk. One of the many rig-free cameras that float around the Palins like Orwellian satellites pays special attention to Piper’s devilish smirk after she takes a tentative lick, zooming in on her face in close-up twice, as if to prove the subversive nature of her miniature act of benign domestic rebellion. With a little luck, The Soup is already planning on using the clip to show that even Palin’s kids want to piss her off, albeit in a totally innocuous Sunday cartoon strip kind of way. Fight the power, Piper.

To maintain this self-image of herself as lady of the house, Palin goes so far as to reimagine her home as a miniature commonwealth. She defends its boundaries from a wily, unnamed writer (The Today Show’s Joe Mcginnis, most likely) that’s holed up across the street, now writing a “hit piece,” as Todd puts it, on Sarah’s activities. At the same time, the fact that Sarah enjoys writing and “researching” for her next book outside in her backyard, which some creative montage editing suggests is in full-view of this scruple-less media vulture, proves once again how canned the show’s drama is. Palin is putting herself in full view of this dangerous predator, so that she can crack a joke about how her husband is protecting her home’s borders from intruders (he built a 14 foot addition to their fence to block this guy’s view, after all) and then storm back indoors in a huff, so she can pretend she suddenly remembered that she’s also under a less friendly form of surveillance, too.

This introduction is the lens through which we have to look at Palin’s state, which is positioned as “the last American frontier.” This isn’t Alaska, after all, but Sarah Palin’s Alaska: Reaction shots of her gasping at two bears tussling take precedence over the actual bear footage. Apparently, Palin identifies a great deal with these furry brutes. She implicitly compares herself to them, relating to the way that “mama grizzlies” insist on teaching their children first-hand: “No one else can do it for you,” she pontificates with a big ol’ grin on her face. Admittedly, there is one longish, uninterrupted take where Palin’s voice is the only sound wafting into a shot of two bears having at it, but still, as with any reality TV show, Palin has to tell us what we’re looking at in that footage.

That being said, the key difference between the way talking head footage is employed by regular reality TV show subjects and the way Palin uses it is that she isn’t talking about what she’s feeling when she’s looking at these bears but rather how they’re symbols for her America. This “mama grizzly” is just “protecting her cubs” as she’s sure that they’re also broadcasting that “nobody’s gonna mess with my cubs; nobody’s gonna mess with the future of the species.” That line about respect for the animal’s territorial nature is especially absurd considering her approval of the hunting of wolves from helicopters. Respect the wilderness from up-close, gun it down from afar, I guess?

Once the episode veers away from the Palins’ day trip into a land populated by grizzlies and bad metaphors, the show takes a break for a weirdly comedic interlude. We’re supposed to laugh at the goofy quirks of Sarah’s home life again, now because of her wacky interactions with teen daughter, Willow. Willow has to be practically physically separated from Andy, who is described as “Willow’s friend.” The inadvertent comedy in this scene comes from the fact that Sarah is digging her own grave by poking fun at herself. The fact that she felt she needed to erect a child-proof fence at the foot of the stairs leading to her teen daughter’s bedroom, both to keep toddlers in and amorous suitors out, is funny but mostly because of the implication that a) this isn’t the first time Willow has brought a boy upstairs and b) more importantly, Sarah’s lived to regret being otherwise inattentive in her cock-blocking skills and now is convinced that a small plastic gate can save her daughter’s chastity.

Sex in general is a great source of inappropriate humor in this homefront aside, thanks to Palin’s winningly desperate casual attire. Sitting at her desk in hilariously short short-shorts, you have to wonder on what planet Palin was on two years ago when she and her gang balked at the idea that liberals and the media at large (undoubtedly there’s no difference to Palin) had turned her into a sex object. If the shorts barely fit, wear ‘em.

Much of the rest of the episode would be innocuous enough if Palin weren’t the star of the show. But ultimately, Palin’s show stinks because of the way she’s constantly struggling hard to make everything, even the beauty of her state’s scenery, about her. Palin is determined to scale Mount McKinley, the tallest mountain in America, in order to prove that she can do it and to show Willow the ropes, so to speak. The way she desperately scrambles to position harsh weather as proof that “Mother Nature” has the final say when it comes to whether or not anyone can approach McKinley is such an implacably stupid, oblique statement of politically motivated girl power. It’s especially funny in the way that she seriously purses her lips at the camera as she warns the viewer in a voiceover that you don’t want to challenge Mother Nature as she will surely make you crash in light of Palin’s own agnostic-leaning-towards-atheistic stance on global warming. We may or may not be damaging the planet according to Palin’s politics but according to this show, we gotta respect our Mother or else. The scariest part about that putrid image is that she may be right.

Stray Observations:

•Palin’s joke about being impatient: Now that’s funny.
•“He’s bringin’ home the back; that’s the way it should be.” I’m sorry, what?
• Is “keeps ya on your hills” an actual saying or another signature neologism from Shakespalin?
•Baudrillard would have plotzed if he saw the show’s captions’ Disney-like script font.
•“You always wanted to be a rock climber, Sarah.” “Rock climber or rock star?” I’m pretty sure he said rock climber, Sarah.
• “That’s a deep, dark crack down there. It’s pretty wide, Todd.” Urge to snicker—rising!
• “I was being so cocky! I’m being punished for it.” Risin’, risin’!
•It felt like there were a ridiculous number of commercial breaks after the show’s initial long cold opening. Combined with the fact that Palin talks about the creepy author across the street from her house twice, this makes me think that the show’s producers estimate their audience is not only routinely distracted but also apparently has the attention span of a hyper 2-year-old

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Books by and about Sarah Palin

By Sarah Palin

America By Heart


Going Rogue, an American Life

About Sarah Palin
--Positive--

The Faith and Values of Sarah Palin


Sarah Palin: Faith, Family, Country


Trailblazer, an Intimate Biography of Sarah Palin


The Persecution of Sarah Palin: How the Elite Media Tried to Bring Down A Rising Star


-Negative-

Going Rouge: An American Nightmare


101 Thngs You..And John McCain...Don't Know About Sarah Palin


The Lies of Sarah Palin: The Untold Story Behind Her Relentless Quest for Power


Palinisms: The Accidental Wit and Wisdom of Sarah Palin

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Christian Science Monitor: Republican establishment takes on Sarah Palin

Republican establishment takes on Sarah Palin
Senior officials from former president Bush on down say she's not ready for the presidency, and some are questioning her recent decisions and pronouncements.

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin rallies support for Republican Senate candidate and tea party favorite Joe Miller during a Miller campaign rally in Anchorage.
By Brad Knickerbocker, Staff writer / November 6, 2010

Sarah Palin may have notched some political victories this past week, including a pretty good win-loss record among candidates she endorsed. But she’s also under fire for some of her recent decisions and pronouncements – in this case not from liberals, but from senior voices in her own party.

Skip to next paragraph Recent posts
11.06.10
Republican establishment takes on Sarah Palin 11.05.10
Obama turns to '60 Minutes.' Who is he trying to reach now? 11.05.10
MSNBC's Keith Olbermann suspended: two big rules of journalism he broke 11.04.10
Did Jon Stewart hurt the Democrats in Election 2010? 11.04.10
Sarah Palin releases 'renegades going rogue' video: Who's in it?
Related Stories
Sarah Palin releases 'renegades going rogue' video: Who's in it? Sarah Palin for president? It's possible, she says. Starting from the top, GOP critics of Palin reportedly include former president George W. Bush.

“The 43rd President has told friends the ex-Alaska governor isn't qualified to be President and criticizes Arizona Sen. John McCain for putting Palin on the 2008 GOP ticket and handing her a national platform,” New York Daily New Washington bureau chief Thomas DeFrank reported Friday.

"He thinks McCain ran a lousy campaign with an unqualified running mate and destroyed any chance of winning by picking Palin,” a Republican official “familiar with Bush’s thinking” told DeFrank.

Karl Rove, Bush’s political mastermind, had already questioned whether Palin had the “gravitas” to be president – or even the fortitude to withstand the rigors of a long, bruising campaign.

In recent days, two former Republican speechwriters have weighed in unfavorably on Palin as well.

Michael Gerson, a top aide in the Bush White House, says that in some ways Palin has become “a threat to the Republican future.”

Most recently, Gerson writes in his Washington Post column, that’s the result of her endorsement of Constitution Party gubernatorial candidate Tom Tancredo in Colorado. Tancredo, a former Republican congressman, is a divisive figure best known for his virulent, sometimes racist anti-immigrant pronouncements

“Her endorsement raises the question of whether Palin has any standards for her support other than anti-government rhetoric,” Gerson writes. “Either as a power broker or a candidate in the 2012 election, Palin's increasingly erratic political judgment should raise Republican concerns.”

Tough stuff, for sure.

Tougher still is what former Reagan speechwriter and Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan had to say about Palin this week.

What set Noonan off was Palin’s recent Fox News comment about an icon among past Republican presidents: “Wasn't Ronald Reagan an actor? Wasn't he in 'Bedtime for Bonzo,' Bozo, something? Ronald Reagan was an actor.”

“Excuse me, but this was ignorant even for Mrs. Palin,” wrote Noonan, who then went on to note Reagan’s professional career as president of the Screen Actors Guild and then governor of a large and complex state for eight years before entering national politics, challenging his party’s sitting president (Gerald Ford), and popularizing modern conservative political philosophy – all before winning two terms as president.

“The point is not ‘He was a great man and you are a nincompoop,’ though that is true,” Noonan wrote, contrasting Palin with the 40th president. “The point is that Reagan's career is a guide, not only for the tea party but for all in politics. He brought his fully mature, fully seasoned self into politics with him. He wasn't in search of a life when he ran for office, and he wasn't in search of fame; he'd already lived a life, he was already well known, he'd accomplished things in the world.”

Palin’s retort to such criticism is that she’s fighting the political establishment, including the Republican establishment – some of which she labels “sleazy.”

Will it make any difference in a Palin run for the presidency in 2012, something she’s suggested she might do? Very possibly, given the likely opposition she’d face in party primaries.

For all her political clout and celebrity (her own reality TV show will launch this month), most Americans view Palin’s suitability for the presidency the same way former president Bush reportedly does.

According to the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, just 27 percent of those surveyed see her as qualified for the presidency while 67 percent say she’s not qualified.

“Palin appears to have gained little luster from the success of the tea party political movement with which she'd aligned,” ABC News reported. “Just 39 percent of registered voters see her favorably, the most basic measure of a public figure's popularity.”

Judging by those recent comments from GOP higher-ups, that apparently includes many Republicans.

NDTV: George W Bush 'thinks' Sarah Palin is 'unqualified'

George W Bush 'thinks' Sarah Palin is 'unqualified'
New York: George W Bush has suggested that Republican leader Sarah Palin is "unqualified" and she spoiled the party's 2008 presidential election campaign, a top aide of the former US President has said.

"Naming Palin makes Bush think less of McCain as a man. He thinks McCain ran a lousy campaign with an unqualified running mate and destroyed any chance of winning by picking Palin," a Republican official close to Bush was quoted as saying by the 'New York Daily News'.

Bush suggested that the 46-year-old glamorous former Alaskan governor is not at all qualified to be President and criticised Senator John McCain for picking her as his Running Mate in 2008, the report said.

Matt Latimer, former special assistant to Bush, wrote in a book released last year: "'I'm trying to remember if I've met her before. I'm sure I must have'. (Bush's) eyes twinkled, then he asked, 'What is she, the governor of Guam?'" Bush has been disparaging about Palin in the past.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

The Hill: Did Palin hurt repeal of ObamaCare?

Did Palin hurt repeal of ObamaCare?

While Sarah Palin is largely responsible for setting the welcome example that encouraged so many Republican women to run for political office this year, there is a downside to her role in the midterm elections, too.

The role she played in Christine O'Donnell defeating Mike Castle in Delaware for the GOP Senate nomination, and similarly with Sharron Angle in Nevada (and the possible/likely residual effect in Colorado and perhaps Washington state), will make it difficult, perhaps even impossible, for Republicans to repeal ObamaCare.

Palin bears some responsibility for this.

Presidential primaries start early — very, very early. In a few short months, we will be in it, and the sharp focus on Tuesday's midterms may ensure that voters are paying closer attention a bit earlier this time around. Sarah Palin should immediately get to work to mitigate what she did in the midterms by working the grass roots in states with Democratic senators up for reelection in 2012 to build enough pressure from constituents to force them to vote for repeal of ObamaCare. If Palin can do that, she's golden. If not, she may have a problem if Republican primary voters hold her accountable.

ABC News: NOTE: Palin 'Favorites' Photo That Says Obama is 'Taliban Muslim'

In the why is this even "news" category:

ABC News: NOTE: Palin 'Favorites' Photo That Says Obama is 'Taliban Muslim'
ABC News' Mary Bruce reports:

In recent weeks Sarah Palin has used her Twitter page to endorse midterm candidates, offer political commentary, and get out the vote. But last week, she used Twitter to list as a "favorite" a photo of a sign labeling President Barack Obama a “Taliban Muslim.”

Palin posted as a "favorite" a tweet by conservative political commentator Ann Coulter linking to an image of a sign outside “The Blood of Jesus ATLAH World Missionary Church.” The sign reads, “The blood of Jesus against Obama history made 4 Nov 2008 a Taliban Muslim illegally elected president USA:Hussein.”

“MY NEW CHURCH!” Coulter’s tweet declares.

The New York-based Atlah World Missionary Church is run by the Hon. James David Manning

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Palin AWOL On Campaign Trail

National Journal, Hotline On Call: Palin AWOL On Campaign Trail
No campaign surrogate has been more closely watched this election season than former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R). The media -- this website included -- has analyzed, and overanalyzed the success and failures of Palin's endorsed candidates to try to extrapolate signs of her political standing as she considers a 2012 presidential run.

But since primary season -- when Palin had a more robust campaign schedule -- the 2008 vice presidential contender has been remarkably absent from the campaign trail, choosing instead to only endorse candidates via Facebook and Twitter and stick to her TV hits on Fox News. Palin has made public stumping appearances in only 13 races, almost entirely in the primary season. That pales in comparison to, say, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R), who has stumped for nearly 60 candidates this fall.

While Palin has made endorsements in nine active Senate races, until last week she had only done one general election rally -- for Marco Rubio (R) in Florida.

All of which makes Palin's rally for Alaska Republican contender Joe Miller last Thursday striking. By appearing at a large rally in her home state, Palin put her political capital on the line. If Miller loses to Sen. Lisa Murkowski's (R) write-in campaign or Sitka Mayor Scott McAdams (D) squeaks through, Palin stands to squander much of her political clout.

"If she loses, that one it is going to send a signal to everybody about her clout even her in her home state," said University of Virginia political analyst Larry Sabato.

Michael Carey, a columnist for the Anchorage Daily News noted Monday that Palin may not end up helping Miller.

"There is a large number of people [in Alaska] who have stopped listening to her and have moved on," Carey said on MSNBC Monday.

Calls to Palin's political action committee were not returned.

More broadly, Palin's political muscle is already being questioned in Republican circles. Some say Palin has become such a polarizing figure that Republicans will steer clear of her in the future. When Palin made a last minute decision to campaign for Republican John Raese (R) in West Virginia last weekend, some questions were raised about whether the hasty decision actually helped Raese since very few voters knew of Palin's appearance before she got there.

"The only reason you have her come out is to rally people," said Republican pollster Tyler Harber. "If she isn't interested in doing that, I think you'll find a lot of people who are unwilling to accept Palin's endorsement or help."


To be fair, of the 13 Republican candidates for whom Palin has stumped this year, several are appear to be cruising toward wins on Tuesday. They include South Carolina gubernatorial contender Nikki Haley (R), whose campaign took off after Palin endorsed her campaign.

But two of the candidates Palin stumped for in the primary season -- Georgia gubernatorial contender Karen Handel (R) and Idaho House hopeful Vaughn Ward (R) -- didn't make it through their primaries, when both were initially favored.

Because Palin invokes such loyalty from a small, conservative segment of the GOP, observers say her endorsement has become mainly helpful in primaries, but counterproductive in general elections where she tends to turn off moderate voters. Sabato compared her to Jesse Jackson on the left in the 1980s -- someone who was a valuable endorsement in the primary election but too polarizing in the general.

When Palin went to California recently for Republican rallies. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina (R), who is running for the Senate and has been endorsed by Palin, did not make an appearance at the events.

"She's controversial. She's a polarizer," Sabato said. "She's a classic case of a politician who can help a candidate a lot in a low turnout partisan primary, but generally costs votes in the higher turnout general election."

Sarah Palin, Tea Party darling turns back on GOP, endorses Tom Tancredo for Colorado governor

NY Daily News: Sarah Palin, Tea Party darling turns back on GOP, endorses Tom Tancredo for Colorado governor
The Mama Grizzly is giving Tom Tancredo a rocky mountain high.

In a last minute push -- and turning her back on Republican Dan Maes, the most unpopular major party candidate in the country -- Sarah Palin endorsed Tancredo, who's running as a third party-candidate in the Colorado gubernatorial race.

"BREAKING: Tancredo just received glowing endorsement from Sarah Palin-details forthcoming," the campaign tweeted. A link to a recorded message was then posted on the Tancredo's website.

"Tom is the right man for the job," Palin is heard saying in the joint robocall.

The former Republican Congressman, running as an American Constitution Party candidate, has been skewered for his anti-immigrant stance and for endorsing an Arizona-style law.

"He'll fight for lower taxes, he'll stop growing government, and start growing the economy. And we know he'll continue to work to end illegal immigration," she said of Tancredo in the recording.

A recent survey by Public Policy Polling shows 48% of likely voters will vote for Democrat John Hickenlooper to Tancredo's 43% -- up from last week's results by just a few points.

Palin didn't take to Facebook and Twitter like she normally does to endorse a candidate. Instead, she reminded voters about March 21, the day when "the Pelosi Congress cast its vote for Obamacare."

"Let's fire Pelosi, retire Reid, and send all those who were responsible for that disgraceful bill," she wrote on Facebook.

The former vice presidential nominee has turned her back on several establishment candidates this election season, including the Alaska and Delaware Senate races, where she backed Tea Partiers Joe Miller and Christine O'Donnell.

Palin has endorsed 61 candidates so far, according to the Washington Post's Palin endorsement tracker. Of those, 42 won in their primary, 11 lost, and eight had no primary.

President Obama will spend some of Election Day calling into radio shows to urge Americans to vote, The Hill reported. But a large part of his day will be spent in meetings as he prepares for a 10-day trip to Asia, which begins on Friday.