News: Sarah Palin's Iowa Debut

Wonder Wall, Power Wall: Sarah Palin's Iowa Debut
It's Sarah Palin the movie star, not the presidential candidate, who will head to Iowa on Tuesday, but despite the quick visit, politics and the state's presidential importance are sure to play a bigger part of the visit than she may be intending.

Palin will be in the crucial first caucus state for the first time this year not to meet with operatives ahead of a presidential run but to screen the documentary about her life, The Undefeated, at the opera house in the scenic town of Pella. Although the Iowa trip is sure to ramp up speculation yet again that she will enter the 2012 race, all signs point to a flying visit to the Hawkeye State completely focused on the film's premiere.

Director Stephen K. Bannon said he is “ecstatic” and “elated” about the film's premiere, but as in The Undefeated—Palin facilitated the interviews for the film but was not directly involved in its making—she will just be a guest at the screening.

One of the reasons Gov. Palin wanted to come is because of the venue, the historic opera house in the little town of Pella. She can come see the movie and see it in a historic setting,” Bannon told The Daily Beast. “It's not about Sarah Palin. It's about the values she represents and that are in the film: tenacity, fortitude, and grit.”

When news broke Saturday that the former Alaska governor was planning to attend the screening in Pella, speculation was rife that she was going to kick off the second leg of her “One Nation” bus tour. The first leg ended in the first primary state of New Hampshire, and Palin insiders with knowledge of the tour had always stressed that the second leg would include Iowa, while the third would likely hit South Carolina, the first presidential primary state in the South. But on Wednesday she'll be at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota—without her bus—for a mother-daughter book signing at Barnes & Noble. Eldest daughter Bristol's memoir, Not Afraid of Life, was released last week and this will be her first book event. Sarah Palin's second book, America By Heart, was released last year

“In Iowa, in a caucus state, big-name operatives and consultants are overrated,” he said. “You need your county GOP chair and people willing to make phone calls and organize your neighbors. That's what caucuses are about. Those are the most important people she can meet, the people that are really Sarah Palin fans, not a potential campaign manager or potential caucus director. The people she will be mingling with are quite important.”

Palin will attend the premiere with husband Todd and longtime friend Kristan Cole, who also stars in the movie. The advance staffers rehired for the bus tour, Jason Recher and Doug McMarlin, will not be in attendance. Bannon said he believes Palin will not be traveling with staff.

“I never talked to SarahPAC about the premiere. No one in the PAC was invited. I invited Gov. Palin,” Bannon said. “The barbecue is for the people of Pella.”

The director said local politicians will be in attendance, but despite the film's goal—trying to reframe Palin's image as a bipartisan problem solver ahead of a possible run—big-name operatives weren't invited.

“The chief theme of the film is populism, Tea Party populism. I did not invite bigwigs in the Republican Party throughout the state. The film is not about that, it's about a simpler populist message. There will be no red carpet. The red carpet will be the red bricks that pave the front of the opera house,” Bannon said.