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.

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Sarah Palin Stirs Confusion With Tea Party Rally Plans

From Huff POst: Sarah Palin Stirs Confusion With Tea Party Rally Plans

Sarah Palin found herself at the center of confusion swirling within the political community on Wednesday after it was reported that the former Alaska governor was "no longer confirmed" to appear at a Tea Party rally in Iowa this weekend.

Palin was expected to deliver the keynote address at the upcoming Hawkeye State event. On Tuesday it was reported that the big name Republican's appearance was put on hold.

The Des Moines Register reports:

Tea Party of America organizer Ken Crow said Palin’s staff called this morning to say Palin’s speaking engagement at Saturday’s Iowa rally was “on hold” until three changes were made.

“They said, ‘Ken, can you take care of bing, bing, bing’ and I said, ‘Yessir, I will’ and I did,” Crow, an Indianola Republican told The Des Moines Register.

CNN's Peter Hamby reports that sources close to the former governor say organizers of the event had been "dishonest" about the line-up of the rally and the promotion of the event.

Tea Party of America founder Ken Crow told ABC News, "We made mistakes and now we are fixing them. It’s all good." He signaled that Palin should be on hand for the Tea Party event on Wednesday.

Crow cited "a couple of errors" in addressing complications related to Palin's scheduled appearance and said that the former governor has been "a lady of her word and impeccably honest" when it comes to her posture toward the gathering.

Crow told the Daily Caller that he hopes Palin won't ultimately cancel her appearance. "It would hurt her more than hurt us," he said.

Delaware Republican Christine O'Donnell, who made an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate last year, was also scheduled to appear at this weekend's Tea Party rally. After abruptly being dropped from the program, the former candidate was reportedly re-invited to attend the event late on Tuesday. However, on Wednesday, the president of the Tea Party of America said, "I had to cancel O’Donnell."

Palin endorsed O'Donnell's Senate campaign during the 2010 election season.

UPDATE: A source close to Palin confirms to Scott Conroy at RealClearPolitics that the former governor plans to make an appearance at this weekend's Tea Party rally in Iowa.

Sarah Palin Appearance at Tea Party Rally in Iowa ‘No Longer Confirmed’

From the Wall Street Journal: Sarah Palin Appearance at Tea Party Rally in Iowa ‘No Longer Confirmed’
Sarah Palin’s Saturday appearance at a tea party rally in Indianola, Iowa, is on hold, a person close to the former Alaska governor told The Wall Street Journal.

The person said Ms. Palin’s appearance was “no longer confirmed” and cited “continual lying” from event organizers at Tea Party of America, including a recent mixup over whether former U.S. Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell of Delaware would also speak.

Ms. Palin is known for last-minute schedule changes that whipsaw supporters and media across the country. But the latest decision is puzzling. Ms. Palin’s speech at the rally was viewed as her most high-profile appearance of the summer, fueling speculation she was indeed plotting to run for the Republican presidential nomination.

Attendees were reportedly traveling from across the U.S. to attend the rally in Iowa, which holds the nation’s first nominating contest next year.

The former governor will now appear at a Friday event in Des Moines sponsored by the group Conservatives4Palin. It is currently scheduled for 8 p.m. at The Machine Shed Restaurant, though the location will probably have to be changed, the person close to Ms. Palin said. Ms. Palin is still scheduled to appear at a Tea Party Express tour stop Monday in New Hampshire.

Ms. Palin may still hold an event Saturday, the person said, though she has no firm plans. It’s also possible she could still attend the Indianola tea party rally, the person said.

The former governor’s team decided to back out Tuesday night after rally organizers re-invited Ms. O’Donnell to speak on stage. Organizers had booked Ms. O’Donnell, who lost her 2010 bid for a U.S. Senate seat from Delaware, to speak but quickly withdrew the invitation in an effort to avoid controversy.

A Tea Party of America leader told Ms. Palin’s aides that the former governor told him to re-invite Ms. O’Donnell, which is not true, the person said, adding that there were also issues over fund-raising and logistical changes that were not approved by Ms. Palin’s team.

Earlier this month, Ms. Palin’s political action committee released a Web video touting her recent appearance at the Iowa State Fair. It ended with the words, “See You Again September 3rd.”

Correction: Sarah Palin put her appearance at a Tea Party of America rally in Indianola, Iowa, on hold but did not cancel it, as incorrectly reported in an earlier version of this post.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

News: Palin, O'Donnell to appear at Tea Party event in Iowa

From USA Today: Palin, O'Donnell to appear at Tea Party event in Iowa
Tea Party favorites Sarah Palin and Christine O'Donnell will be among the speakers this weekend at a rally for the small government movement in the key presidential state of Iowa.

O'Donnell, who lost the Delaware Senate race last year, is out promoting her book, Troublemaker: Let's Do What it Takes to Make America Great Again.

Palin -- the former Alaska governor who is on track to make a decision about the 2012 presidential race at the end of September -- is not likely to talk about a White House bid.

The Des Moines Register reports that Palin will speak last at the Tea Party of America's "Restoring America" event, being held Saturday in Indianola. Charlie Gruschow, organizer of the event, told the newspaper that he has no idea about the topic of Palin's speech.

"I think it'll be about freedom," Gruschow told the Register's Jennifer Jacobs. "I honestly don't know if there will be any announcement made one way or another. They keep that very close to the vest. But we know it's significant, and we're honored to have her accept our invitation to speak."

SarahPAC, Palin's political organization, recently shot down a suggestion by political strategist Karl Rove that the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee could join the White House race by Labor Day.

"Any professional pundit claiming to have 'inside information' regarding Governor Palin's personal decision is not only wrong but their comments are specifically intended to mislead the American public," the message on SarahPAC's "Setting the Record Straight" section said.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Fast forward: Sarah Palin, Burning Man and Lloyd Robertson

This was from Friday... no news about Saturday...

From The Star. Com: Fast forward: Sarah Palin, Burning Man and Lloyd Robertson
Politics: Will she or won’t she? That’s the question looming about Saturday, when Sarah Palin is due to give a major speech, and — according to rampant speculation — announce her candidacy for president of the U.S. Republican elder Karl Rove says he thinks Palin will drop the bombshell at Saturday’s address at the inaugural Tea Party of America event in Indianola, Iowa, and Palin has previously set September as a “drop-dead time” for her to enter the race. She denies that she has made a decision, however.

COMMENTARY: Sarah Palin’s wink, Michele Bachmann’s blink shame women

From SDGLN (San Diego Gay & Lesbian News): COMMENTARY: Sarah Palin’s wink, Michele Bachmann’s blink shame women
Friday, Aug. 26, was Women’s Equality Day. Sadly, it’s a bit of a misnomer. Besides, how many people actually know what it is that the day celebrates? It surely is not equality. Women don’t have equality. Even I don’t have equality, and I am no pantywaist — but the same rights, responsibilities and opportunities as men? Oh my goodness, no. Women, as a class, have not yet achieved any of that.

What we have is the right to be oppressed by ludicrous expectations for our gender, including that ever popular slut-mommy routine straight men are taught to favor; by mass media representations that tell the world what is most valuable about women are our breasts and penetrable orifices; and by the often unspoken yet screeching mantra to suck it all up for family, god and country.

As for responsibilities, women are burdened with an embarrassment of riches. While we have the responsibility of providing one of the pro forma two household incomes that keep everyone in the latest cell phones (if we’re not toting that bale as a single parent), the onus remains on us for the vast majority of household work and child rearing — along with maintaining extended family and friend networks, managing household finances, negotiating service provider contracts, and distributing the intangible benefits of our core competencies. It’s akin to leading a business, except only 28 of the Fortune 1000 corporations have female CEOs. That they are paid 8% to 25% less than their male counterparts should not be considered commentary on their job performances, but, rather, a reflection of their body parts.

And then, there is the cornucopia of opportunities that are showered upon women like sweet manna from heaven. Actually, I’d say they’re more like the ammonia swirling from an unkempt pissoir. Among many, there is the opportunity to be denigrated for our emotions, our bodily functions, our weight, our femininity and our lack thereof; the opportunity to be sidelined with the label “bitch” for characteristics that earn men promotions; the opportunity to fend off unwanted sexual advances by those who interpret the length of our skirts or size of our boosiasms as an invitation to pounce; and the opportunity to earn an average of 80¢ to each dollar a man earns — whether he’s average or a numskull.

So, what’s a woman to do? I suppose it helps to point out such peccadilloes, but I’ve been writing about them for way too many moons. Last year, it was the Woman’s Day advertising campaign that touted vagina deodorizing as a career advancement tactic. In 2009, it was the fear of feminism that inhabits conservative male rhetoric and inhibits progress toward equality. Before that, it was the shunning of the term “feminist” and on and on.

Just how long does it take for folks to recognize the inequity of inequality?

It’s been one full lifetime since the impetus for Women’s Equality Day. Still wondering what makes the date so special? It’s the day in 1920 that women in the United States were finally allowed — allowed! — to vote. It took a constitutional amendment, and what actually changed? Well, in 1919, Great Aunt Cappie was studying to be a surgeon, learning to cut folks open from stem to stern and work medical magic with their innards. But she couldn’t vote: She wasn’t deemed to have the temperament for such decisions. Then in 1920, her mental and emotional capabilities, formerly belittled by men who feared women’s suffrage, suddenly received a constitutional upgrade.

In fact, Aunt Cappie didn’t change; it was an attitude adjustment and the presumption that women’s votes could be added to their husbands’, a presumption that lingers in some backwater bedrooms to this day.

But for the rest of us, what has women’s suffrage produced? Of late, it’s the likes of Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, who think deriding their political opponents just like the boys if not more so, opposing women’s and civil rights, and winking — or belatedly blinking — their mascaraed lashes make them prime female presidential fodder.

If only they respected themselves a bit more, but apparently one lifetime has not been enough. And I’m not sure which is the greater hindrance to equality: men who fear us or women who play us.

Love,

K-B

Photos: Reality TV crew films Bristol Palin and son in L.A.

From the Anchorage Daily News: Photos: Reality TV crew films Bristol Palin and son in L.A.
The U.K.'s Daily Mail has published photos of Bristol Palin and her 2-year-old son, Tripp, on the street in Los Angeles, being followed by a camera crew filming scenes for Bristol's next TV series. The as-yet-unnamed series on the BIO channel will be the third for Todd and Sarah Palin's eldest daughter. She was on "Dancing With the Stars" last year and also appeared in "Sarah Palin's Alaska." How "real" will this set-up reality show be? According to the BIO network, it "follows Bristol Palin's move from Alaska to Los Angeles with her son, Tripp, to work at a small charity in need while living with her good friends [brothers] Chris and Kyle Massey." Kyle Massey was a co-star with Bristol on DWTS.

Rick Perry broadens national lead over Romney, Bachmann, Palin

From the Los Angeles Times: Rick Perry broadens national lead over Romney, Bachmann, Palin
Fourteen days after announcing his Republican presidential candidacy, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has expanded his lead in a new national poll, while both Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin slide slightly and Michele Bachmann is in single digits.

A new CNN/ORC International Poll of Republicans out today shows Perry now holds the support of more than one-in-four (27%), up significantly from the 15% he had before his Aug. 13 announcement at the Redstate Gathering of conservative writers in South Carolina.

Romney, who had 17% then, now has 14%. Sarah Palin, who's expected to make her candidacy plans or lack thereof known at an Iowa tea party rally Saturday, has slipped from 12% to 10%.

Bachmann, the Iowa native and early tea party favorite, has the support of 9%, down from 12% in mid-July. The congresswoman's win at the Ames Straw Poll seems to have provided a short-lived bump.

In a poll that removes Palin and non-candidate Rudy Giuliani from the race, Perry's support jumps to 32% and Romney's to 18%.

The latest poll numbers reveal the tectonic shifts caused by Perry's energetic entry as the nation's longest-serving governor. Perry's support is strongest among tea party supporters but crosses a broad swath of the GOP and appears to be drawing support away from Bachmann and even perennial candidate Ron Paul.Rick Perry campaign Logo

The numbers also highlight the potential dangers of Romney's strategy so far of focusing heavily on New Hampshire and attacking President Obama while largely ceding Iowa and South Carolina to other GOP hopefuls.

His strategy is based on the belief that, in the end, Republican primary voters will eschew the excitement of the moment and choose someone, anyone, they believe can defeat the Democratic incumbent on Nov. 6, 2012.

The new CNN/ORC Pollalso shows that despite his dedicated disciples' determination, Paul's national standing has faded by half from early August, from 12% down to 6%.

A recent Gallup Poll of Republicans found a similar commanding lead for the Texan with a broad base of support among GOP incomes, gender and educations.

Even further changes in allegiance are likely in coming days as Labor Day and the fall campaign season arrive.

In addition to Palin's long-teased decision Saturday, this weekend features a tea party candidate forum in South Carolina run by Sen. Jim DeMint where for the first time Perry will mix it up with GOP competitors like Bachmann and persistent critic and fellow Texan Paul. Romney is taking a pass on that event.

Then comes a flurry of debates including one at the Reagan Presidential Library on Sept. 7 and another in Tampa, Fla.

The same CNN/ORC poll found that fewer that three out of four Democrats favor Obama's renomination. The 72% who do is statistically about the same as the 70% who said that in early August but down from the 81% who liked that idea in early June. Likewise, those favoring a different Democrat as presidential nominee has surged from 18% in June to 27%.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Run, Sarah, run!

From the Chicago Tribune, an op ed: Run, Sarah, run!
"Change of Subject" by Chicago Tribune op-ed columnist Eric Zorn contains observations, reports, tips, referrals and tirades, though not necessarily in that order. Links will tend to expire, so seize the day.
I'm vastly entertained by the prospect of the formal entry into the GOP race of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (trailing Obama by 21 points in a head-to-head McClatchy-Marist poll earlier this month; by 14 points in a CNN/Opinion Research poll). She’s slated to speak at a tea party rally in Iowa a week from Saturday, Sept. 3, and rumors of a “major announcement” are flying.

She will not be our next president. But unlike some other hopefuls who also will not be our next president, she has the political wattage to shift the terms of the debate within her own party and nudge it even further to the right.

That wattage is already diminished. The vacuum that her provocative tweets and pugnacious posts filled during the campaigning lull has been filled by actual candidates, causing our interest in Hamlette of the Tundra to wane.

Her battle to stave off the obscurity and irrelevance that inevitably awaits her will keep us amused, with luck, all the way until Super Tuesday (March 6, 2012).

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Five reasons why Sarah Palin will run (and five reasons why she won't)

From Los Angeles Times: Five reasons why Sarah Palin will run (and five reasons why she won't)
It’s official—or at least as official as polls taken 14 or so months before the election: There’s a new sheriff in town. According to Gallup, Rick Perry has unseated Mitt Romney as the leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.

Perry’s rise hasn’t been terribly surprising. Conservatives have been casting about for a champion to counter Romney for months. For a long stretch earlier in the year, Sarah Palin was viewed as a leading contender for that slot. But as she has played Hamlet-on-the-tundra and made the rounds on Fox News evening lineup, first Michele Bachmann and then Perry came along to try to assume the mantle.

With Perry surging, it’s only natural to ask what his early success means for Palin. She is nearing what she he termed her deadline for making a decision on a presidential bid. She’s set to deliver a speech in Iowa Labor Day weekend, one that may (or just as easily may not) provide some clue about her plans.

Palin recently released a video of the day she spent at the Iowa State Fair, which set off an entirely new round of speculation about her intentions. But she showed this week that she enjoys tweaking the media and the established political class (that's you, Karl Rove) when they suggest that she has made up her mind.

"Three years ago D.C. pundits predicted with glee the demise of Sarah Palin's political career. This past weekend their tune changed, citing false information that she has made a decision and set a date regarding a future campaign," said a statement on the site of her political action committee. "Any professional pundit claiming to have 'inside information' regarding Governor Palin's personal decision is not only wrong but their comments are specifically intended to mislead the American public.' These are the same tired establishment political games that fuel the 24 hour news cycle and that all Americans will hopefully reject in 2012, and this is more of the "politics-as-usual' that Sarah Palin has fought against throughout her career."

In denying that she's a candidate, Palin sounded, well, like a candidate.

And so it goes. Speculating about the former vice presidential nominee is almost a full-time avocation, so here’s a look at some of the reasons why, at this relatively late date, Palin may or may not turn the GOP race on its ear.

FIVE REASONS WHY PALIN WILL RUN
1. Perry is ripe to be taken. The Texas governor’s high-velocity ascent to the top of the pile illustrates the volatility of the race—and perhaps the weakness of the field. If he could so quickly capture the hearts and minds of conservatives, the charismatic and even better-known Palin would seem like a good bet to supplant him. And given the talk in some GOP circles about the need for another candidate to challenge Perry, there appears to be some hunger for yet another option.

2. She’d be the star of the show. From the moment she declares, Palin would draw media coverage like no other candidate, rendering Perry, Romney, Michele Bachmann and everyone else to an afterthought. She could dine for weeks on the free exposure she’d receive—and the coverage could help make up for the organizational shortcomings she currently has.

3. She’ll energize the party. Except for perhaps Bachmann and Ron Paul, passion has been the missing ingredient in the Republican field. But Palin’s supporters are die-hards. She is perhaps one of the few candidates who can transform nonvoters into voters, something Republicans may need to match Democratic turnout.

4. She’ll do it her way. During her “One Nation” bus tour, Palin proved that she could bend the media—and local officials—to her will, showing up practically unannounced, granting selective interviews and interacting with the public as she chose. She has repeatedly said that she would mount a nontraditional campaign, one that would likely leverage her celebrity as much as possible. She may relish the challenge of seeing how far that celebrity can take her, and she seems unconcerned about the effects the media scrum would have on her and her family.

5. She can’t lose. Whether she captures the nomination—or the White House—Palin will have made her own kind of history and likely buttressed her image as a straight-talking, anti-establishment conservative. She could drop out at any time, blame the party hierarchy and still have legions (and perhaps new) admirers.

FIVE REASONS WHY PALIN WON'T RUN

1. Her window has closed. She had her shot, but Perry’s entry and Bachmann’s popularity among "tea party" conservatives, have siphoned away the support she would need to mount a serious run. Where before she may have been able to fashion herself as the only significant challenger to Romney, Perry can make the same argument—and he’s a longtime governor of a prosperous state.

2. She can’t do it her way. Even Barack Obama, with all of the fawning media coverage and all of the attention he received in 2007 and 2008, had to build an extensive, sprawling network of operatives, volunteers and surrogates to first beat Hillary Clinton and then capture the presidency. Until someone proves otherwise, presidential campaigns succeed from the ground up, not the top down. Palin has shown no sign of wanting to build an operation such as that, nor has shown any desire for day-in, day-out campaigning. There's also the question of money. While it's generally assumed that Palin wouldn't have trouble raising funds for her campaign, that hasn't been tested. And as Romney and Perry work to lock up donors, time is becoming an enemy in that regard.

3. She has it pretty good. Palin is one of America’s biggest stars—and she can have an effect on Republican politics by simply posting on Facebook. Her status as a private citizen allows her to choose where and when she engages the media. And right now, she makes a lot of money, whether from her reportedly $1-million Fox News contract, speaking gigs or books. The bottom line is that she is in almost complete control of her time and her image. If she runs, that will change dramatically. And coming up short risks damaging a brand that she has worked hard to cultivate.

4. She’ll split the party. Somewhere, GOP strategists are lighting candles in the hope that Palin doesn’t enter the race. It could set off a fierce range war among Bachmann, Perry and Palin for conservative support, one that could drag deep into the primaries and result in a surfeit of bruised egos and feelings. Who would benefit? Likely Romney—and perhaps, ultimately, Obama.

5. She can’t win. Palin has never shown the potential to capture the votes of mainstream, centrist Americans in the numbers that she needs to win the White House. And now, polls in Iowa and elsewhere show her support among Republicans shrinking, even as respondents say they like and admire her--a recognition on their part perhaps that she is better suited to be an outside agitator in the party rather than a candidate for office.

Karl Rove: Sarah Palin Showed Signs Of 'Enormous Thin Skin'

From HuffPo Politics: Karl Rove: Sarah Palin Showed Signs Of 'Enormous Thin Skin'
During an appearance on Fox News on Wednesday night, Karl Rove said that Sarah Palin has shown signs of "enormous thin skin" when it comes to ongoing speculation about whether or not she will jump into the race for president in the next election cycle.

Rove recently predicted that the former Alaska governor looks as if she's prepared to make a run for the White House in 2012. On the heels of Rove weighing in on the matter, Palin's camp pushed back against what he had to say about her political ambitions.

"Three years ago DC pundits predicted with glee the demise of Sarah Palin's political career," read a note posted on the SarahPAC website earlier this week. "This past weekend their tune changed, citing false information that she has made a decision and set a date regarding a future campaign. Any professional pundit claiming to have 'inside information' regarding Governor Palin's personal decision is not only wrong but their comments are specifically intended to mislead the American public."

On Wednesday night Rove said, "I'm mystified. Look, she is all upset about this, saying I'm somehow trying to sabotage her -- sabotage her in some way and that how dare I speculate on her future. Look, if she doesn't want to be speculated about as a potential presidential candidate, there's an easy way to end the speculation. Simply say, 'I'm not running.'"

Rove went on to say, "I'm just speculating that the kind of schedule she's keeping leads me to believe that it's more likely than not that she's going to be a candidate." He added, "And I suspect if we didn't speculate about her, she'd be upset and try and find a way to get us to speculate about her."

(The video is available at the original link.)

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Levi Johnston won’t run for mayor, will focus on book instead

From The Daily Caller: Levi Johnston won’t run for mayor, will focus on book instead

Levi Johnston, the father of Bristol Palin’s son, will not be running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, anytime soon, according to RadarOnline.

The Playgirl model, whose memoir “Deer in the Headlights: My Life in Sarah Palin’s Crosshairs” hits bookstores next month, won’t seek political office because, he says, he would rather not turn something serious into a “joke.”

“He isn’t running,” Johnston’s manager Tank Jones told the site. “Levi doesn’t want the office of the Mayor to be a joke and so he’s not going to do it right now.”

Johnston also needs to bone up on the demands of running a city.

“He’s not going to run right now because there are a lot of issues that he would need to study up on and he thinks that this isn’t the right time for him to be Mayor now,” Jones said.

The 21-year-old is staying occupied and “focusing on his book that is coming out September 20.”

Last summer Johnston announced that he would be running for mayor of Wasilla. His aspiration was short-lived, as a September Public Policy Polling poll found that Johnston was the least popular person in his state.

Earlier this month, Johnston’s sister Mercede appeared in a nude Playboy spread that included nasty commentary about former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and her family. Mercede claimed to have had issues landing work in Wasilla, and faulted Palin for the difficulty. (MORE: Mercede Johnston: ‘Promiscuous’ Bristol Palin and Levi ‘planned’ pregnancy)

“It’s hard to get a job in this town because of the Palins,” Mercede explained to Playboy. “People say, ‘Oh, Mercede Johnston, I don’t know if people are going to come in if she works here.’”

Bristol Palin’s memoir, which was released in June, claims that Levi was a deadbeat boyfriend who “cheated on [her] about as frequently as he sharpened his hockey skates.” In an interview with “Good Morning America,” Bristol Palin said she hoped her book would encourage females to escape their unhealthy relationships.

“I hope that other women with, kind of, jerk boyfriends reading the book go ‘you know what? I don’t have to be with this guy,’” Bristol said.

Has Sarah Palin exhausted the patience of her supporters?

From Christian Science Monitor: Has Sarah Palin exhausted the patience of her supporters?
There is some evidence that while waiting for a potential Sarah Palin presidential run, her potential voters have moved on and now support other tea party-backed candidates, such as Rick Perry or Michele Bachmann.

Has Sarah Palin waited too long to announce she’s running for president?

That’s if she intends to run for president, we mean. If she doesn’t, this line of chatter is moot. But there is some evidence that her potential voters have already moved on and now support other tea party-backed candidates, such as Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) or Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann (R). So if she does throw her snow machine helmet into the ring, she might start a White House race closer to the back of the pack than the front.

First, let’s address the waiting part. The former Alaska governor on Tuesday denied that she intends to announce a White House bid on September 3, when she’s scheduled to address a big Tea Party meeting in Iowa.

QUIZ: How well do you know Sarah Palin?

“Any professional pundit claiming to have ‘inside information’ regarding Governor Palin’s personal decision is not only wrong but their comments are specifically intended to mislead the American public,” read a message posted on the website of her PAC.

The "professional pundit" referred to is Karl Rove, apparently. He’s the person who got that particular ball of punditry rolling downhill. In a Fox News appearance last weekend he predicted Palin would launch a race in her September 3 speech, saying her schedule “looks like that of a candidate, not a celebrity.”

Rove never claimed inside information. He and Palin don’t get along – he’s said her participation in reality shows demonstrates a lack of “gravitas” – so he might just have been trying to provoke her into an angry response. In which case, Mission Accomplished!

Palin might use the September 3 address to endorse another candidate. She might use it to make it clear she will announce at some point – Governor Perry used that same sort of slow-unveiling strategy as he edged into the race.

But the problem is at this point she may be exhausting the patience of potential Palinites.

“I think we are coming to the end of the line for Sarah Palin’s ability to string the Republican primary voters along,” writes Erick Erickson, editor of the “RedState” conservative blog, in a Wednesday post.

Here’s Erickson’s reasoning: A Palin entry into the race would not shake up the standings too much at this point. He points to a new Public Policy Polling survey which shows her support sinking in Iowa. If she declares she’s in, she’d start with only about ten percent of the Iowa vote – putting her behind Perry, Mitt Romney, Bachmann, and Ron Paul.

Nationwide, Palin has the highest name recognition of any GOP candidate, real or potential, points out Erickson. But she has only about 12 percent ballot support, according to a Gallup rating.

“I think Palin could get back a number of voters should she get into the race – people who gave up on her running and moved on to someone else. But, I do not think it would put her in a strong enough position to get into first or second place,” writes Erickson.

Some other analysts are less negative. In an opinion piece for CNN, political scientist Paul Sracic of Youngstown State University in Ohio writes that Palin’s on-camera optimism about America seems natural and akin to that of GOP icon Ronald Reagan.

“This offers at least the possibility that, despite her current low standing in the polls, she will be able to leap-frog over the more negative sounding Bachmann and Perry, and compete head-to-head with Romney,” writes Sracic.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Palin, Bachmann, Newsweek: What's sexy, what's sexist

Kansas City Star: Palin, Bachmann, Newsweek: What's sexy, what's sexist
By DOUGLAS BRODE

No sooner had the controversy over Newsweek's Sarah Palin cover (July 11) died down than a new one over its Michele Bachmann issue (Aug. 8) took the talk shows by storm. For anyone who missed it, Palin had been presented looking fit as a fiddle, strong and structured, and highly attractive. Liberal commentator Lawrence O'Donnell of MSNBC took issue with the left-of-center magazine's allowing their joint "enemy" to come off so well. For him, Newsweek's ploy was hard, cold and politically amoral: to sell issues of a publication that's dying a slow, steady newsstand death.

O'Donnell had no reason to complain when a month later Newsweek followed up with a hatchet job on another tea-party favorite. With glazed-over eyes, in an "I'm ready for my close-up, Mr. DeMille!" image of other-worldliness, Bachmann appeared every inch the space cadet her detractors expect.

This time, Fox News unleashed anger. Virtually every commentator on that right-leaning network insisted Newsweek had featured the kind of visual put-down O'Donnell earlier had insisted ought to have been the case with Palin.

But it didn't end there. Terry O'Neill, president of the National Organization for Women, insisted the cover was "sexist." Yet here is a photograph that, whatever one thinks about Bachmann's politics, makes a physically attractive woman appear anything but. The irony is that, back on Nov. 17, 1999, when Newsweek featured a Palin cover displaying her in pigtails, bright red top, and black running shorts that showed off her to-die-for legs, spokespeople for NOW complained that that image was sexist.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't - further proof that if the essence of what "sexism" actually means is to have any continuing value in our society, the misconception that "sexy" and "sexist" are equitable equivalent terms must belatedly be put to rest.

Rightist Palin also seized on the language of the left two years ago, attacking Newsweek for "sexism" though she had chosen to pose for the photo and expressed no problem with its earlier appearance in Runner's World. Yet another conservative woman, former White House spokeswoman Dana Perino, stated on Sean Hannity: "They made sexuality a part of her performance."

What back in 1973 would have been a leftist complaint can now come from the right. But then or now, right or left, it simply isn't true. What Newsweek did was to honestly deal with the fact that physical beauty is a part of Sarah Palin's "performance." Love her or hate her, Palin is, like Bachmann, a conventionally attractive woman.

To pretend that isn't the case would be akin to making believe Scarlett Johansson is so huge a movie star strictly owing to her acting abilities. Yes, Johansson is a superb actress. So are many other young women who have not, and will not, achieve her level of fame. Not that beauty alone can ever do the trick. If that were so, Carmen Electra would qualify as a superstar instead of a C-list pseudo-celebrity.

If sexy and sexist were the same thing, any performance art by Madonna, Lady Gaga, or Beyonce Knowles would have to be written off as sexist. None ever hides her sexuality, but flaunts it. Yet if each rates as a sex symbol, none could be dismissed as a sex object. That occurs only when beauty is all there is, the case with an empty vessel such as Paris Hilton. While it can be argued that pop culture and politics are two different realms, that's more difficult to accept now that politician Palin has also hosted a reality TV series.

So: Was Newsweek's Palin cover biased or sexist? No. The Bachmann one? Biased, yes; but not sexist. If Newsweek were to do a Hillary Clinton cover, my guess is she'd look like a million bucks. If a conservative publication such as National Review features Clinton and Bachmann on successive covers, the former will appear wretched, the latter lovely.

We live in an age that has witnessed the death of objective journalism, as old-network early-evening news ratings go ever further down the tube. So long as a magazine openly admits its bias, we must accept, if not necessarily like, the fact that this is the way "the news" now works.

As for sexism, the term never should have been aligned with sexiness. "Sexism" should finally be employed to describe one thing alone: the gender bias that allows a woman working alongside a man to be paid less than an equal salary for the same job. What that woman looks like has nothing to do with a situation that represents sexism at its most offensive.

Gossip: Sarah Palin Is a Tease!

The Daily Beast: Sarah Palin Is a Tease!
It’s the middle of August and we’re in the dog days of a political summer, when the Republican contenders for president are scrambling to figure out how to unseat Obama in 2012. The exaggerated importance placed on last weekend’s Ames straw poll isn’t a surprise. Michele Bachmann probably won’t be our next president, but the intense need for some sort of political news in our nonstop 24-hour cycle is to be expected. What should not be expected, however, is that six months away from the New Hampshire primary in January, the media is still spending a considerable amount of time obsessing over Sarah Palin, a woman who may or may not even be interested in a run for the White House.

She’s more than happy to stay in the spotlight, as she teases and distracts the media from the other politicians who have announced their candidacy and are actively campaigning. Her recent stop at the Iowa State Fair may have been one of her most egregious moves yet. This is coming after her “coincidental” appearance in New Hampshire just miles away from Mitt Romney, on the day he told supporters he was entering the race. As I watched on TV the nest of reporters and groupies surround Palin at the Iowa State Fair, I couldn’t help but sit back and wonder if she’s become the ultimate party crasher for the Republican Party.

To be completely honest, I don’t believe that Palin has any intention of actually running for president. Granted, trying to predict Sarah Palin’s next move is like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall. Candidates who are serious about running for president flirt and tease up to a point, but they don’t normally star in a reality show while making such deliberations. In fact, the Palin road show is more like a Mark Burnett production, where she doesn’t inform the media where she’s going, ends up in random places of historical importance with her children, and continues to act as if journalists are to blame for wondering what she’s doing there. Piper Palin even quipped earlier this month to the press, “Thanks for ruining our vacation.”

The only bus tours to political events I ever went on with my father were when he was running for president. Why else would you be touring the nation in a bus? Well, there is one other reason: it’s one hell of a great distraction if you aren’t running for president. We all know that Sarah Palin loves attention. I think it’s quite obvious at this point that Sarah Palin is starting to feel threatened that there are new Republican darlings in town and that the media stronghold she once monopolized is clearly loosening. I think what we are seeing this summer is Palin in panic mode—and let’s face it, she should be panicking. It’s a new election cycle, and there are new kids in town that could very well start stepping on her Palin brand.

I know Palin hasn’t asked for my advice, and I assume the likelihood of that ever happening in my lifetime is probably about the same as the likelihood of hell freezing over. That being said, my advice to Sarah Palin would be, continue to hold the position as the leader and the symbol of right-wing America that you are, continue making boat loads of cash, and stop acting so threatened that the media might forget you. If you are in fact seriously considering running for president, you have reached the eleventh hour and the clock is ticking. Fish or cut bait, Sarah. Either put your hat in the ring and show America what you want to do with our country, or step back and let other politicians whose time has come have their moment. God knows, you have had yours.

In the meantime, you are traveling to the Iowa State Fair and then acting surprised when a hurricane of reporters jump you (I literally read numerous Twitter feeds of journalists live tweet their attempt to chase you down at the fair). When ABC news correspondent Jake Tapper tried to ask you some questions, you said you were “going to meet a heifer first.” Let’s get real here, you weren’t just there to enjoy the fair and the fried butter. And reporters, you aren’t doing yourselves any favors either. She says jump, you still say how high. She jerks you around because you let yourselves be jerked around, and it’s embarrassing for other politicians and for journalists.

Much of Sarah Palin’s allure seems to fade by each passing talking point of Michele Bachmann’s that goes viral. And with each passing day, Sarah Palin looks more and more like a confused woman who can’t decide which way to go. The last thing our country needs right now is a president who can’t make up her mind or make tough decisions. As Americans, we live in perilous times and what we need is real leadership. Republicans really have a chance to win the White House in 2012. We don’t need to be distracted by Sarah Palin’s attention-seeking antics anymore, unless of course she actually decides to stop flirting and finally make a move to announce her candidacy. Until then, the rest of the country is trying to decide between the candidates who are actually running.

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Meghan McCain is a columnist for The Daily Beast. Originally from Phoenix, she graduated from Columbia University in 2007. She is a New York Times bestselling children's author, previously wrote for Newsweek magazine, and created the Web site mccainblogette.com. Her most recent book, Dirty Sexy Politics, was published in August.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Sarah Palin's Response to President Obama Debt Talk: I'm Eating Fried Butter

From People Magazine: Sarah Palin's Response to President Obama Debt Talk: I'm Eating Fried Butter
Will Sarah Palin put caloric caution on the backburner to take a bite of fried butter? You betcha!

Hitting the road Friday to resume her One Nation bus tour, America's best-known hockey mom will be stopping at the Iowa State Fair, where she says she's going to chow down on some not-so-nutritious grub.

What's on the menu? "I'm excited to try some of that famous fried butter-on-a-stick, fried cheesecake-on-a-stick, fried Twinkies, etc.," Palin, 47, wrote in an email to her supporters."

But Palin's fair plans come with a side of sass. The former Republican vice presidential candidate says the fried food is a tongue-in-cheek jab at President Barack Obama, who made a reference to a certain green veggy when explaining the debt crisis at a White House press conference in July.

"It's not going to get easier. It's going to get harder," he said. "So we might as well do it now: Pull off the Band-Aid, eat our peas. Now is the time to do it."

In the email she joked, "I'll enjoy [the fried food] in honor of those who'd rather make us just 'eat our peas.' "

Though she'll be in the neighborhood, the possible presidential candidate – she continues to play coy – has no plans to attend the historic pre-caucus Ames Straw Poll on Saturday. She will also miss Thursday's debate among Republican presidential hopefuls Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Michele Bachmann, Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum.

What's behind Sarah Palin's surprise trip to the Iowa State Fair?

From Christian Science Monitor: What's behind Sarah Palin's surprise trip to the Iowa State Fair?
Sarah Palin and her One Nation bus tour are making a surprise trip to Iowa, if you haven’t heard. In an email sent yesterday to supporters of her political action committee she said she’s going to “meet folks at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines this week.”

“State fairs hold a special place in our nation’s history and heritage, so my family is honored to highlight one of them on one stop along the One Nation Tour route,” wrote the ex-governor of Alaska.

Does this mean a President Palin would make the Iowa State Fairgrounds a National Park? Just asking.

Palin also noted that she’s excited to try some of the Iowa State Fair’s famous fried foods, including fried butter-on-a-stick, fried cheesecake, and so forth. She’ll enjoy them “in honor of those who’d rather make us just ‘eat our peas,’ ” noted Palin, in a not-so-veiled reference to President Obama’s recent statement comparing the hard choices in a debt deal with legume consumption.

Vegetables aside, we’ll say this about that: once again, Sarah Palin has proved that she is the quasi-political attention-getting master of the US media universe.

That’s because there just happens to be a debate in Ames, Iowa tonight among declared GOP presidential contenders. A straw poll follows this weekend. So hundreds of political reporters are already in Iowa – pre-positioned for a Palin drive-by. Pure genius.

Somewhere Rick Santorum is sitting in a hotel room with his face in his hands. It’s the lagging candidates who’ll really feel the tire tracks of the bus tour. If you’re a “Good Morning America” producer, which story would you rather see on the air – Gingrich Campaign Still Dead, or Palin Views a Cow Made Entirely of Butter?

Plus, SarahPAC has posted a new one-minute Palin video that makes pretty much every other Republican contender’s commercials look underproduced.

It’s a paean to small town America, which grows “good people ... with honesty and sincerity and dignity.” It invokes Harry Truman, contains several quick shots of the young Ronald Reagan, and lingers on an Iowa State Fair sign.

The sound track is Palin’s speech at the 2008 GOP convention. The overall impression it leaves is that Michele Bachmann is a good speaker, Michele Bachmann is a former tax attorney, Michele Bachmann is a tea party favorite, but Sarah Palin is still way better at lighting people on fire with words.

Does all this mean Palin is going to run for president? She’s still not saying. But it sure looks like she’s running for something, even if it’s only Queen of the Midway.

Sarah Palin's 'One Nation' bus tour resumes, first stop Iowa on eve of Ames Straw Poll

From the New York Daily News: Sarah Palin's 'One Nation' bus tour resumes, first stop Iowa on eve of Ames Straw Poll
Just when you think Sarah Palin is out, she shoves herself back in.

After a two-month break from her "One Nation" bus tour, the former Alaska governor and presidential flirt is resuming her jaunt across America and heading to Iowa this week.

She'll make a stop in Des Moines at the State Fair on Friday - the eve of the state's much-hyped Ames Straw Poll and just before a GOP debate at Iowa State University on Thursday.

Palin won't participate in the two events, however, because she's not officially a candidate, according to the Des Moines Register.

"State fairs hold a special place in our nation's history and heritage, so my family is honored to highlight one of them on one stop along the One Nation Tour route - America's historic Iowa State Fair!" Palin wrote to supporters of her political action committee, SarahPAC on Wednesday.

She added, "I'm also excited to try some of that famous fried butter-on-a-stick, fried cheesecake-on-a-stick, fried twinkies, etc. I'll enjoy them in honor of those who'd rather make us just 'eat our peas!'" she said, referring to Obama's previous remarks insisting Congress needed to eat its vegetables and pass a debt deal.

The former vice presidential candidate fueled speculation of a presidential run after she announced the bus tour and traveled from Washington D.C. to New England in May.

At the end of June she said the tour had been momentarily halted for jury duty and the tour would resume "when the time comes."

Palin has said she'll decide on running for the Oval Office by fall. Skeptics insist Palin has no intention of running and that she is simply creating hype for publicity.

The pit stop to the early voting state comes as eight GOP presidential hopefuls get ready to square off in Iowa. Texas Gov. Rick Perry is also expected to make his intentions of running official on Saturday.

Palin has been accused of stealing the limelight from other candidates before, most recently when she rolled her bus tour into New Hampshire this summer on the same day former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney announced his presidential run.

Alaska's most famous hockey mom also stopped at the Hawkeye State in June to attend the premiere of a documentary about herself - the same day Obama was in the state and a day after Michele Bachmann made her candidacy official, also in Iowa.

Friday, August 5, 2011

Nick Broomfield Trains Sights On Sarah Palin in Channel 4 Documentary

From the Guardian.co.uk: Nick Broomfield Trains Sights On Sarah Palin in Channel 4 Documentary
She is the self-styled hockey mom and "mama grizzly" who once said she was prepared to rise up up on her hind legs to protect her cubs.

But darling of the American right Sarah Palin has found a new adversary – award-winning British director Nick Broomfield, who claims to have uncovered dark suspicions and feuding within her coterie and likens her Alaskan home of Wasilla to David Lynch's dystopian fictional mountain town Twin Peaks.

The documentary maker, who has previously tackled Kurt Cobain, Biggie Smalls and Tupac Shakur, and Heidi Fleiss, is currently putting the finishing touches to his film Sarah Palin – You Betcha!.

But he is understood to have found what he calls his quest to find the "real" Sarah Palin something of an ordeal.

During filming for the project, which will premiere at the Toronto Film Festival next month – prior to a Channel 4 broadcast later this year – Broomfield tried to quiz the former vice-presidential candidate at a public appearance in May this year.

Channel 4 is tightly guarding the contents of the film, but in a clip that has appeared on YouTube, Broomfield can be seen being escorted from the California event after breaking a ban on questions from the floor and asking Palin: "Do you think your political career is over?"

Channel 4 would not confirm whether Broomfield finally meets Palin. But it did confirm that he spent much of his time filming in Wasilla, Palin's Alaska home where she was governor between 2006 and 2009.

Broomfield met school friends, family members and former colleagues of Palin who have now become disillusioned with her, including her ex-legislative director John Bitney and former Alaskan senate president Lyda Green.

Bitney speaks bitterly of his experiences working with her, insisting she often ignored him and openly spent time on her BlackBerry when he was talking with her.

"It was frustrating to set up a meeting with legislative leadership to talk about a piece of legislation or a bill or an issue or something that needed to be worked out," Bitney tells the film. "She was very unengaged in the conversation."

Bitney's assessment is supported in the film by Green. "I never felt that Sarah was ever connected to the business in the building, what was going on in the Capitol," she tells the film. "It was always I thought a very cursory attendance when she was there, a lack of interest, and she generally had her two BlackBerries and was texting most of the time."

Other interviewees in the film are thought to include figures connected with the July 2008 Troopergate affair when Palin was alleged to have tried unsuccessfully to have her former brother-in-law, state trooper Mike Wooten, fired.

Broomfield says that his film shows a small town fraught with feuds where close friends have become bitter enemies and the question on everyone's lips is, "are you with her or against her".

"People are frightened to talk," added Broomfield. "Wasilla makes Twin Peaks look like a walk in the park. It's a devout evangelical community – 76 churches with a population of only six thousand."

Broomfield's films tend to make the news. In his 1998 film Kurt & Courtney, Cobain's widow Courtney Love withdrew her support from the film, which suggested that Cobain had been murdered and did not commit suicide.

Broomfield's other celebrated films include His Big White Self, about South-African far-right leader Eugène Terre'Blanche, Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer, the story of America's first woman serial killer Aileen Wuronos and Biggie and Tupac, a documentary on the deaths of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls and the East Coast/West Coast, hip-hop/rap rivalry.

Opinion: Proof that Fox News goes easy on Sarah Palin?

One could ask about the media that goes easy on Barack Obama and Democrat politicians...

The Week.com: Proof that Fox News goes easy on Sarah Palin?
Best Opinion: Business Insider, Atlantic

The video: A pair of Fox News personalities created a media dust-up this week, saying on the air that they use kid gloves when discussing Sarah Palin, who earns more than $1 million a year as a Fox News contributor. Greg Gutfeld and Bob Beckel, co-hosts of the Fox News program The Five, were discussing Palin's fierce defense of the Tea Party when Gutfeld said the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee is "like a coworker" and that "if I say something bad and I see her in the hallway I feel really awkward and wrong." Beckel agreed: "Many times, I'll be honest, I've pulled my punches." (Watch the video below.) The Fox hosts later insisted they were being facetious. "So you make one joke and left-wing sites... go crazy because they're so desperate for any kind of Palin anecdote — that's like their heroin," says Gutfeld, as quoted by CNN. Beckel insists that nobody at Fox has ever told him to hold back on anyone, and that "I'd punch them out if they did."

The reaction: "It certainly doesn't really sound like they [were] joking," says Glynnis MacNicol of Business Insider. And though it's not exactly "the most shocking news" that Fox takes it easy on Mama Grizzly, the initial "honesty is refreshing." In a way, this is inevitable, says Conor Friedersdorf at The Atlantic. People often favor their colleagues, "if only for the sake of collegiality and organizational cohesion." But Fox News is different because many of its paid commentators, like Palin, are not just "participants in America's public conversation about politics, but prominent players in the game itself." It's nice to see some Fox Newsers acknowledge this major conflict of interest, even if only briefly

Thursday, August 4, 2011

News: Lawmakers say Palin donations came without any notice

The Hill: Lawmakers say Palin donations came without any notice

The 13 lawmakers who received campaign donations from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) have one thing in common — none of them got advance notice the checks were coming.

Palin distributed $65,000 to candidates during the first half of this year, according to a Federal Election Commission (FEC) filing this month by Sarah PAC, Palin's political action committee.

But the lawmakers who received donations said they never heard from the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee — and possible 2012 presidential candidate — or her representatives about the money.

"The check showed up; there was no discussion ahead of time," said a spokesman for the campaign of Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-Mo.), one of 11 House Republicans and two GOP senators to receive donations.

The contributions were unsolicited and unheralded, according to the lawmakers who received the donations and their campaign committees.

Palin doled out the maximum $5,000 to 13 incumbent Republicans: Sens. Bob Corker (Tenn.) and Roger Wicker (Miss.) both received donations, as did Reps. Lou Barletta (Pa.), Larry Bucshon (Ind.), Ann Marie Buerkle (N.Y.), Francisco "Quico" Canseco (Texas), Mike Coffman (Colo.), Sean Duffy (Wis.), Renee Ellmers (N.C.), Mike Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Martha Roby (Ala.), Allen West (Fla.) and Hartzler.

The contributions were all made on the penultimate day of the second quarter, June 29, with the exception of one sent to Coffman, which was a debt retirement check sent Jan. 31.

All of the House members were from the freshman class of Republicans, with the exception of Coffman. (Fitzpatrick is technically a freshman member, despite having previously served in Congress.)

In Coffman's case, he received a check in January as a replacement for a campaign contribution he'd received from Palin last fall, but had lost. The check was subsequently voided, and Sarah PAC wrote his campaign another check to help pay down his debt.

That check arrived, unaccompanied by a note or anything else, in an envelope sent to Coffman's personal mailing address in Colorado.

"She just sent it to my house," Coffman said. "It just said 'Sarah PAC' ... that was unsolicited."

In the cases of Corker and Wicker, Palin's contributions are especially head-scratching for political observers because of the ire both members have drawn from the right. Wicker has long been known as an advocate of so-called pork projects, and conservatives bristled at Corker's work with then-Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) last year on Wall Street reform legislation. (Corker eventually bailed from talks.)

"Wicker and Corker in particular make exciting prospects for the Tea Party movement," wrote Erick Erickson, the head of the influential conservative blog RedState, the day after last fall's election.

A spokesman for Sarah PAC did not respond to emails seeking an explanation as to the former governor's contributions.

Contributions by the PACs of potential presidential candidates aren't unusual; they are given to help curry favor and — hopefully — endorsements.

Romney's Free and Strong America PAC, for instance, dispatched a combined 159 donations to campaign committees and to House and Senate candidates.

But recipients of Palin's campaign cash said they're not any more inclined to endorse the former Alaska governor for president (if she runs) compared to any other candidate because of their donations.

"Nope," said West, the beneficiary of a Palin endorsement during a key point last cycle, and the recipient of a donation this cycle, of whether he's likely to back Palin for president. "I think that her donating to me means she's supporting me."

News: Ethics complaint against Sarah Palin dismissed

From Associated Press: Ethics complaint against Sarah Palin dismissed

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska officials have dismissed an ethics complaint filed against former Gov. Sarah Palin that alleged she violated state law because the TLC docu-series "Sarah Palin's Alaska" took advantage of a state film production incentives program she signed into law.

Malia Litman of Dallas filed the complaint in June with Alaska Attorney General John Burns. Litman also alleged Palin benefited from the production of the eight-part series in violation of a two-year moratorium that bars former officials from being compensated for assisting others in dealing with the state.

Palin resigned in July 2009, with 17 months left in her first term, citing in part ethics complaints she called frivolous. Her resignation came less than one year after she was tapped as the Republican vice presidential nominee. She is now publicly mulling whether to seek the presidency in the 2012 election.

Litman, 53, said she received the dismissal letter in the mail Tuesday. She said she is a retired trial lawyer and had thought the complaint was obviously warranted.

"I'm shocked," she said Wednesday in a phone interview. "I think it's so clear that she violated the law."

Palin's attorney, John Tiemessen, did not provide immediate comment.

Palin's reality show was produced through Santa Monica, Calif.-based Jean Worldwide by Mark Burnett of "Survivor" reality TV show fame. Palin is credited in Internet Movie Database as an executive producer on three episodes.

The series was among productions that tapped Alaska's new film production incentives program. Producers received a tax credit of nearly $1.2 million after spending about $3.6 million in the state, according to Alaska Film Office documents.

The documentary series attracted an average of more than 3 million viewers per episode and debuted with an audience of nearly 5 million people — a record premiere for TLC. It concluded in early January.

The dismissal letter to Litman said there's no basis for her grievance.

"You have not alleged any specific action by Ms. Palin to assist Jean Worldwide in applying for the tax credit, only that she was involved in and compensated for making the film," the letter states. "The action of signing the general legislation passed by the Alaska Legislature into law as governor does not bar Ms. Palin from working for a person who operates under that state law."

As for the post-state employment allegation, the letter written by senior Assistant Attorney General Judy Bockmon acknowledged Alaska lawmakers amended state law to include work on legislation. However, there "was no suggestion that in doing so the legislature intended to change its original intent that the post-state employment bar be narrowly construed," Bockmon wrote.

That means it does not apply in every case, she wrote, but only to employment connected to the "same" matter a former official participated on during state service. Any new, future work is treated as a new matter.

Palin reportedly was seeking as much as $1.5 million per episode in pitching the show last year, according to The Hollywood Reporter. TLC, a division of Discovery Communications, has refused to divulge how much Palin was paid.

Blog: Fox News guy admits favoring Palin

The Washington Post, Post Opinions: Fox News guy admits favoring Palin

In newspapers, conflict-of-interest disclosures are spelled out in the most earnest, somber language.

On Fox News Channel, conflict-of-interest disclosures are conveyed with a giggle or two.

Last night on Fox News’ show The Five, the topic turned to “Mama Grizzly” Sarah Palin and her anger over the treatment of Tea Partyers. The conversation came around to Fox’s Greg Gutfeld, who said, among other things: “The only problem with talking about Sarah Palin is that she works here and it’s like a co-worker and if I say something bad and I see her in the hallway, I feel really awkward and wrong. So I Just kind of say, ‘That was a good job.’”

Fox on-air personality Bob Beckel chimed in: “I’ve pulled my punches on her.” Palin is a paid contributor to Fox News, though if she declares for president, she’ll have to abandon the gig.

Two possibilities here: 1) These Fox guys are of very high integrity; 2) These Fox guys are oblivious to the slams against Fox’s role in national politics, which have intensified ever since the phone-hacking crisis hit Britain.

Frank Rich of New York magazine recently argued:
The wholesale buying of elected officials is such a staple at Fox News we don’t think twice about it anymore. While it has long been routine for retired politicians, former officials, and semi-retired campaign operatives to join the ranks of American print and television journalism—whether on ABC (George Stephanopoulos), CNN (Donna Brazile, William Bennett), or MSNBC (Chris Matthews), or in the Times (from William Safire to Peter Orszag)—only at Fox were four active potential presidential candidates literally on the payroll (Palin, Huckabee, Gingrich, Santorum) for chits that can be cashed in should any of them end up in or near the White House.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Sarah Palin: I Do Not Respect Romney's Silence On Debt

Washington DC Examiner: Sarah Palin: I Do Not Respect Romney's Silence On Debt
In a Tuesday night appearance on Fox News' Hannity, Sarah Palin criticized Mitt Romney for his silence on the debt limit debate. Romney stayed conspicuously silent in a debate which was front-page fodder for days and the focus of a presidential prime time address followed by a Republican rebuttal delivered by the Speaker of the House. Despite the national attention on the debt limit, Romney only spoke in the 11th hour when he meekly declared his opposition to the deal reached by President Obama and Congressional Republicans.

“Bless his heart, I have respect for Mitt Romney, but I do not have respect for what he has done through this debt increase debate,” Palin told host Sean Hannity from her home in Wasilla, Alaska.

“He did this,” she said, making a motion with her finger in the air conveying silence. And added, “He waited until it was a done deal.”

Palin is not the only one to criticize Romney's absence in the debate.

Earlier in July, Romney's rival for the nomination, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, said, "The current debate is about what kind of leadership you're going to show, "If you're running for president, you've got to show how you would handle a situation like this."

Fellow GOP contender Tim Pawlenty also weighed in. His campaign spokesperson Alex Conant said, "The debt ceiling is a gut-check time for all Republicans on spending and size of government. Apparently, Gov. Romney is still checking his gut to figure out where he should stand."

Jon Huntsman, erstwhile Utah governor also in the run for the presidency, added his voice and said in reference to Romney,“to dodge the debate or to wait until the debate is over effectively and to take a side, I don't consider that to be leadership.”

The Romney campaign characterized such criticism as unfair and noted that Romney had been a supporter of the "Cut, Cap and Balance Pledge" put forward by many Tea Party groups, an outlined plan in opposition to a debt ceiling raise unless spending cuts, caps on future spending, a super-majority requirement for future taxes and a balanced budge constitutional amendment are part of the deal.

At the time, a Romney spokesperson added that the campaign simply is not able to issue daily statements due to the behind-the-scenes nature of the negotiations. "The details of the negotiations are changing every half hour or so. We're not privy to the inside information on what's going on," the aide said.

In the end, Palin praised Rep. Michele Bachmann, yet another Republican candidate, who voted No on the debt raise. “She spoke out and she cast her vote according to her principles," Palin said.

Blog: Sarah Palin’s disappearing act

The Washington Post: Post Politics: Sarah Palin’s disappearing act
During Washington’s long-running debt debate, one name you didn’t hear very often was that of Sarah Palin.

But then, just as the debate lurched to a final close on the day the country threatened to default, the 2008 presidential candidate suddenly reemerged on the political scene.

On Tuesday’s Fox News’ “Hannity,” Palin seemed to take it very personally when Democrats compared tea-party House Republicans to “terrorists” in referring to their tactics in the debt fight.

“I'm not just going to roll over with a sticker plastered on my forehead that says, hit me baby one more time, call me a terrorist again, call me a racist,” she told Hannity.

“And I'm going stand up for those fiscally conservative patriotic independent Americans who want the best for this country.”

Palin also criticized former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, a potential rival in the 2012 presidential race, saying he “waited until it was a done deal that we would increase the debt ceiling” before coming out against the compromise.

Those kind of headline-grabbing comments raise questions about Palin’s future plans. But the former Alaska governor has a tendency to insert herself into debates with a splash and retreat just as quickly as she appeared, going dark for weeks at a time. Given recent history, it won’t be long before Palin disappears again.

As other 2012 presidential candidates ramp up their campaigns heading into next week’s Ames straw poll and this fall’s debates, Palin is barely a presence in Iowa or any other primary state. She has shot down reports that the high-profile bus tour that took her to New Hampshire in June is over, but two months later it has yet to restart.

The end of that tour was her last major media blitz. On June 2nd, wrapping up her trip, Palin criticized Romney in New Hampshire. She appeared on “Hannity” on June 3rd and on “Fox News Sunday” on June 5th. A few days later she was on the cover of Newsweek saying she could beat President Obama.

Then Palin disappeared — even as archives of her emails from her time as Alaska governor were released and pored over by the media. On June 28th, she went to Pella, Iowa, for the premiere of “The Undefeated,” a movie about her governorship, but said little. At no point did she get back into the political debate.

Until late last week, Palin was on the sidelines of the debt ceiling debate, aside from one Hannity appearance on July 13th in which she criticized Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

On Twitter, Palin promoted her daughter Bristol’s book and little else. Her other comments on the debt ceiling were via a couple vague Facebook notes.

Then, Palin reemerged. On July 26th, she was on Greta van Susteren’s show. Two days later, she posted a Facebook comment that included a threat to House Republicans at the end: “P.S. Everyone I talk to still believes in contested primaries.”

Yes, Palin explicitly positioned herself as an observer of the debt debate, saying that “out here in proverbial politico flyover country, we little folk are watching the debt ceiling debate with great interest and concern.”

The note suggests that even if Palin doesn’t run for president, she will be involved in primary endorsements (as she was in 2010). That role would let her pick and choose her appearances in a way a presidential candidate cannot.

“Doggone it, I want these candidates who are in there,” Palin said of Romney yesterday. “I want them to not be sitting back.” Her sporadic involvement in the political debate suggest that she won’t be one of those candidates. If she does, it would still shake up the race in a major way — but she would be forced to follow her own advice.