Opnion PIeceSarah Palin's odd complaint about the Obama Christmas card design

I'm 5 days late with this article. Sorry about that.

From Los Angeles Tribune, Culture Monster BLog: Sarah Palin's odd complaint about the Obama Christmas card design

Even in Alaska, Sarah Palin's popularity has plummeted. In October the Wall Street Journal reported that the number of people in her home state holding a positive view of Palin had fallen to 29%. Ever since her 2009 resignation from the governorship, halfway through her first term, Palin's full-time job has been self-promotion. She's got books, personal appearances and reality TV shows to sell. So the polling collapse is no doubt nerve-racking.

What to do? The Republican presidential-nomination circus has sucked all the publicity air out of the room, and Palin has virtually disappeared from public view.

Well, kicking a dog in public will certainly get you back in the limelight. That's what happened this week when Palin complained that the illustration on the official White House Christmas card featured Bo, the Obama family's Portuguese water dog. It's doubtful whether dog-bashing will do much to make people like you more, but ink and blog posts are guaranteed.
Explaining the card's illustration, Los Angeles artist Mark Matuszak, 47, told The Times that the White House asked him for "something home related," so he came up with a conventional, Norman Rockwell-style image of a hearth. Photoshop to the rescue: A digitally inserted Bo is stretched out in the warmth of a roaring fire, beneath Georgia O'Keeffe's serene 1930 landscape painting, "Mountain at Bear Lake--Taos," which hangs over a mantelpiece decorated with greens. A nearby table is loaded with wrapped Christmas presents beneath a huge red poinsettia.

Xmas card OkeeffePalin ignored the gifts, holiday plant and national family hearth. She also neglected the rugged American landscape by O'Keeffe, the quintessential "modern western pioneer woman," whose carefully crafted media-persona is the model for the Alaskan's own. Instead, she told Fox News radio that she found it "odd" that the card emphasizes the dog instead of traditions like "family, faith and freedom."

Oops. Forget all the signs she ignored. Lots of popular art books compile histories of dog imagery in art, from the cult-mysticism of ancient Egypt to the contemporary Conceptual comedy of William Wegman. Dogs, perhaps the first domesticated animals in human history, are most often an artistic symbol for fidelity within families. (Fido, anyone?) The classic is Jan van Eyck's so-called "Arnolfini Wedding Portrait" (1434), in which the bourgeois couple, solemn representatives of Renaissance Flanders' prosperous one-percent, is accompanied by a loyal dog.

Of course, depending on the context, dogs also sometimes artfully symbolize lust. Jean-Honore Fragonard's infamous bedroom romp, in which a luscious young woman plays with her fluffy white pet amid rumpled white sheets, functioned as an 18th century equivalent to Playboy's racy pictorial spreads. But there's nothing like that going on in the Obamas' benign holiday greeting card. Like virtually every White House Christmas card since Franklin D. Roosevelt began the tradition in the depths of the last Great Depression, this one shows the White House decorated for the season. It's straight out of the Hallmark playbook.

Palin, not content to leave well-enough alone, went on to say, "Even stranger than that was his first year in office when the Christmas ornaments included Chairman Mao. People had to ask that it be removed because it was offensive."

It was? And they did?

Actually, the ornament in question, sent in by an unidentified American citizen for a White House community tree, included a decoupage reproduction of an Andy Warhol painting that lampoons Mao as a vapid celebrity; it shows him in rouged-and-lipsticked drag, vamping like a Communist Marilyn Monroe in a Three Gorges remake of "Niagara." But bigotry always emphasizes the "otherness" of the hated subject, and what is more "other" than white Republicans implying that the Democratic, African American president of the United States is a Communist?

That, speaking of dogs, also is called a dog whistle -- coded language that appears to mean one thing to the general population but has a different, more specific meaning for a target audience. The so-called "War on Christmas," which is a ludicrous but perennial fabrication of Palin's employer, Fox News, is a dog-whistle for right-wing fundamentalists who want the United States to officially become a Christian nation. On Thursday Palin followed up her greeting card dog whistle with a Facebook Christmas message that's all about her fantasy of "a ramped up 'war on Christmas.' ” (The only thing missing is the dog in the manger.) Communists being godless, of course Obama would put a dog at the center of the holiday greeting card!

Obama was in fact doing Hallmark, but Palin is doing John Birch Society. Whether that will boost her likability numbers above 29% remains to be seen.

Independent group urges Iowans to "vote rogue" - for Palin

From Political Hotsheet: Independent group urges Iowans to "vote rogue" - for Palin
An independent group of Iowa Republicans is urging fellow Iowans to "vote rogue" on January 3, and caucus for a candidate who has already declared she isn't running: Sarah Palin.

"Are you unhappy with the current GOP field?" says a narrator in a radio ad. "Let me tell you something, you are not alone. Join thousands of Iowans as we vote rogue. It's the caucus for Sarah Palin on January 3. Let Iowa and the entire country know we want real leadership and real reform in DC. So come on Iowa, vote rogue on January 3!"

The ads are paid for by a group calling itself "Sarah Palin's Iowa Earthquake." In addition to the radio ads, the organization is readying television for the upcoming weekend, according to a Facebook page that appears to represent the group.

Palin flirted for months with the idea of launching a presidential campaign, but announced in October that she would not be doing so.

And while a write-in campaign for the former Alaska governor is very unlikely to succeed - particularly given that she has missed the filing deadline for several states' primaries - it is possible in Iowa, as caucus-goers could just write her name on the list of candidates.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Regular blog postings begin on DECEMBER 26, Monday.

Palin bandwagon grinds to a halt as networks turn away

The Independent: Palin bandwagon grinds to a halt as networks turn away
Whatever happened to Mama Grizzly? A year ago, Sarah Palin was one of the hottest properties in US politics, hovering near the top of the polls in the Republican presidential race, negotiating a $1m-a-year contract to act as a contributor to Fox News, publishing books, delivering paid speeches, and starring in weekly TV documentary about life in her home state, Alaska.

Today, she appears to have gone into hibernation. After months of flirting with a run, Mrs Palin announced in October that as far as the White House went, she was a non-starter. Her last book came out in November 2010, and no others are on the horizon. Her speeches are few and far between. And her Facebook page, once tended to several times daily, has been updated a grand total of three times in the past month.

Nowhere does her decline seem more evident than in the ratings-obsessed world of television. This week, it emerged that she has been doggedly trying to sell a brand new fly-on-the-wall programme to the country's networks, but has yet to find a willing buyer.

Citing industry insiders, The Hollywood Reporter said that the mooted show will focus on her husband Todd's career as a championship snowmobiler. But Discovery Communications, the organisation whose TLC channel aired her last series, has passed on the proposal. A&E Networks, which lost a frenzied bidding war for Mrs Palin's first TV series, is also not interested.

Part of the problem appears to be the steep price that Mrs Palin and her producer, the influential British reality show developer Mark Burnett, are asking for the programme. Sarah Palin's Alaska was bought by TLC for around $1m per episode, and they are asking for the same lofty amount this time.

A second major issue is undoubtedly the subject matter. Viewers have already watched one television series about the Palin family's domestic travails, and their enthusiasm for a second is questionable. Although Sarah Palin's Alaska scored a record five million viewers for its first episode, it garnered mixed reviews. For the second episode, the audience dropped to three million. By the time all eight episodes were done, that figure was down to 2.5 million.

The third major factor that seems to give TV buyers pause for thought appears to be a perceived decline in Mrs Palin's cultural relevance. In recent months, everyone from Michele Bachmann to Rick Perry, Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich has temporarily sparked the enthusiasm of the Tea Party demographic which represents her core following. As a result, one network executive told the Reporter: "I think it's safe to say her time has passed."

Mrs Palin, 47, also has clouds on the horizon in her career as a rolling news pundit. Her decision to not seek the White House was announced on a talk radio programme. That so angered Roger Ailes, the powerful Fox chief, who believes that his $1m-a-year contract should buy exclusivity on major stories, that he has reportedly considered letting her contract expire in 2013. "I paid her for two years to make this announcement on my network," Mr Ailes told a colleague, according to reports that have not been denied by Fox. Earlier this year, the New Yorker magazine reported that Mr Ailes believes her to be an "idiot" and was not prepared to support her as a potential Republican candidate if she decided to run.

Although she retains a devoted following, Mrs Palin also sparks fierce loathing among opponents. Perhaps as a result, she does not seem to find herself being publicly courted by potential Republican nominees for an official endorsement. This week, Mitt Romney learned the dangers of being officially backed by a headline-prone woman from the party's far right. Christine O'Donnell, a Tea Party favourite once dubbed "Palin-lite", toured TV studios announcing her support, only for Mr Romney's rival Newt Gingrich to take a double digit lead in the polls.

Sarah Palin fails to find buyer for latest TV show

From The Telegraph: Sarah Palin fails to find buyer for latest TV show

The former Republican vice presidential candidate's new proposed foray into reality TV would focus on her husband Todd's career as a champion snowmobile racer.

It would be a follow up to "Sarah Palin's Alaska," an eight-part travelogue which was sold to The Learning Channel (TLC) for more than $1 million an episode and first broadcast in November last year.

That show followed the former Alaska governor and her family around the state, including footage of her shooting a caribou on a hunting trip, going on a deep sea fishing expedition, and visiting a logging camp.

It broke ratings records for a first episode on TLC, drawing more than five million viewers. However, it dropped to three million for the second episode and received mixed reviews, with entertainment industry bible Variety commenting "Boring? You betcha".

Discovery Communications, which owns TLC, has not bought the latest idea for a Palin show. Cable and satellite broadcaster A&E Networks, which bid for the previous series, is also reportedly not interested.

One network insider told the Hollywood Reporter: "I think it's safe to say her time has passed."

Todd Palin, 47, has won Alaska's Iron Dog snowmobile race four times and would be the latest member of the Palin family to feature in a reality television programme. Mrs Palin's daughter Bristol, 21, finished third on "Dancing with the Stars" last year.

Mrs Palin, 47, who was John McCain's running mate in 2008, had become a figurehead for the Tea Party movement and was encouraged by supporters to run for the White House in 2012.

But after keeping the public guessing for months, and conducting a "One Nation" bus tour along the US east coast, she finally ruled herself out in October.

Having confirmed she will not take part, the public focus has since shifted to other potential Republican candidates.

In the last few years she has made millions of dollars from two books and numerous public appearances, and she still has a $1 million a year contract as a contributor to Fox News.

Sarah Palin's absence slidelines tea party

From the Politico: Sarah Palin's absence slidelines tea party
The tea party is still pining for Sarah Palin.

The grassroots conservative movement has yet to throw its support behind a Republican presidential candidate because “we don’t have the female Ronald Reagan running — and that’s Sarah Palin,” said Amy Kremer, chairwoman of the Tea Party Express.

“We haven’t engaged in presidential politics yet because the movement hasn’t coalesced around anybody, so we’re just sitting back and waiting,” Kremer added.

Predicting that a good slice of the country’s conservatives will not make up their minds until they are standing in front of the ballot box, Kremer singled out the former Alaska governor as “the only person out there right now that can truly excite the base.”

“Certainly some candidates bring their own energy and excitement. Michele Bachmann had it early on when she won the [Iowa] straw poll, and then when Perry got in,” she said. “But there’s no one that is electrifying as Sarah Palin.”

Kremer is the leader of one of many tea party groups. But while she is far from being the authoritative voice of the movement, she suggested a sense of ambivalence and frustration is widespread among conservatives.

Earlier this week, tea party darling and former Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell announced her endorsement of Mitt Romney, and on Friday, another tea party favorite, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, also threw her full support behind the ex-Massachusetts governor.

But Kremer said she doesn’t believe Romney and Gingrich will be the last men standing.

“I think it’s possible that Rick Perry could come back. I also think Michele Bachmann could rise back up. I wouldn’t count them out,” she said. “I don’t accept he premise that it will be Romney or Newt. What I [think] back to is Jan. 2010 – everyone said Scott Brown couldn’t win.”

Sarah Palin: Ron Paul ‘Is The One Americans Need To Listen To’ On Domestic Spending

From Mediaite: Sarah Palin: Ron Paul ‘Is The One Americans Need To Listen To’ On Domestic Spending
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin joined Eric Bolling on Fox Business Network’s Follow The Money Wednesday night, and chimed in on several hot-button GOP issues, including the Donald Trump debate and Newt Gingrich‘s rise in the polls. But her most interesting comments came when Bolling got into the weight that her endorsement may carry.

“You know the endorsement that I’m most interested in?” Palin asked. “Ron Paul’s, to tell you the truth.” Palin said she didn’t agree with Paul’s foreign policy, pointing out that he wasn’t even invited to the Republican Jewish Coalition’s summit this week. But she said that he was “absolutely right on” when it comes to his stand on domestic spending issues.

“He’s the one that Americans need to listen to when it comes to dealing in reality about this bankrupt path that we are on,” she said. “So Ron Paul’s endorsement — not saying he won’t get the nomination, but in case he doesn’t — who it is that he chooses to endorse will give us a clear indication of who is on the right path with domestic spending that needs to be addressed. I’m very interested in hearing what Ron Paul thinks at the end of the day.”

As far as the Trump debate on Dec. 27, Palin thinks that candidates skipping it do so at their own peril. Not because she’s necessarily a huge fan of Donald Trump, but because he could bring in an audience that hasn’t been exposed to the stable of GOP candidates yet:

“It’s very important that independents and those who are not obsessed with inside baseball partisan politics — which is most of us — we would like to hear more of the message of each one of these candidates, and perhaps Donald Trump would be able to attract the diverse demographic that maybe has not been as interested in this horse race, this primary process thus far.”

She added Mitt Romney should attend the Trump debate because, “We can’t just be preaching to the choir.”

Sarah Palin endorses Donald Trump’s GOP debate, says Mitt Romney should participate

From NY Daily News: Sarah Palin endorses Donald Trump’s GOP debate, says Mitt Romney should participate
Sarah Palin is not running for President, but she has some pointed advice for those who are seeking the GOP nomination: Don’t fear The Donald.

Palin says Mitt Romney and other GOP candidates should jump at the chance to participate in Trump’s Dec. 27 debate.

So far, only Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have committed to the debate, with Romney telling Fox News earlier this week that he won't do it because he has already agreed to two debates in December.

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and Texas Rep. Ron Paul also have declined, with Paul even telling CNN, "I didn't realize [Trump] had the ability to lay on hands and anoint people."

Palin believes the criticism is unfounded, and that the debate will be a great platform for candidates to express their views.

"I think candidates should not be afraid in front of the nation no matter who the host of the debate is," Palin told the Fox Business Network on Wednesday night. "What is a bit appealing about this idea of Trump hosting a debate is, consider the diverse audience that perhaps he can attract."

Romney, behind Gingrich in recent polls, is missing a big opportunity by skipping the Trump debate, Palin says. Donald Trump - and Gingrich - have also questioned Romney for not participating.

"I think Romney could and should still change his mind and Huntsman too and jump in there and participate," Palin told Fox Business News.

Palin, not surprisingly, said she would have participated in the debate if she was running for the White House.

"America needs to wake up to what is going on under Obama's socialist policies and how he will bankrupt the country," she told Fox Business News. "I'm looking at the debate as a positive thing because of that fact."

Palin, who flirted with the idea of running for President, has yet to endorse a candidate. However, she praised Gingrich to Fox, saying he has "been a bit more successful" than Romney in courting party activists.

Don't expect a Sarah Palin 2012 endorsement before Iowa

From the Alaska Dispatch, Palin Watch: Don't expect a Sarah Palin 2012 endorsement before Iowa
Sarah Palin's endorsement is highly coveted by the tea party-aligned candidates for the Republican presidential nomination. After all, few if any Republicans in the country (who aren't running to replace Barack Obama) have the infrastructure of support or ultraconservative bona fides that Alaska's former governor has built up since her 2008 vice-presidential campaign.

Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum all have eyed the big Palin prize. And according to Newsmax, they'll have to keep waiting. Palin told Newsmax this week that Republicans shouldn't expect an endorsement from her before the Iowa caucuses.

She did seem to insinuate, in her way, that Gingrich was looking better to the conservative base, particularly considering his experience working with a Democratic president in the 1990s to balance the federal budget:

(Gingrich) has been engaged in that movement most recently in order for them to hear his solutions and there's been some forgiveness then on the part of Tea Party Patriots for some of the things in Gingrich's past … Romney and others need to reach out and convince tea party patriots and constitutional conservatives that he truly believes in smaller, smarter government.

Palin did offer one endorsement: she encouraged Republican candidates to participate in Donald Trump's upcoming debate. Two of the more moderate GOP candidates -- Romney and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman -- have both said they won't be attending The Donald's show.

For Palin, presidential endorsement could be double-edged sword

From The Hill, Capitol Blog: For Palin, presidential endorsement could be double-edged sword
With Herman Cain out of the race for the GOP presidential nomination, the rush to win his supporters is heating up.

In fact, those supporters — with their Tea Party beliefs and fervor — could be the deciding factor in the race.

No one holds more sway over this group than two candidates who are now out of the race: Cain himself, and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.) is the early favorite to win Cain’s backing, while Palin’s choice is less clear, but potentially more important.

Cain left the race with a tarnished reputation that could suffer even more damage as new details of sexual allegations trickle in. Palin’s reputation, however, is still sterling to this band of voters. That makes her a huge get for any candidate.

But the Tea Party favorite faces an interesting dilemma: Should she compromise some of her political purity to endorse a front-runner for the nomination, thereby proving her relevance and making a mark on the race? Or, should she stick to her principles and endorse someone with unquestioned conservative credentials but little shot at winning?

It’s a difficult either/or, because both of the two front-runners, Gingrich and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, have significant skeletons in either their political or personal closets. Meanwhile, the candidates who have, by all accounts, the most conservative records don’t have much of a chance of winning.

On an ideological level, Romney’s record clearly doesn’t square with Palin’s. He helped design and implement a healthcare program much like President Obama’s, and conservatives are wary of his stances on such issues as abortion and gay rights.

Further, Palin has often seemed in a shadow war with Romney. On the same day he announced his presidential bid in New Hampshire, she suddenly showed up in the state, unannounced, sucking up all the press in the process.

And, more recently, during the August debt-ceiling debate, she went on Fox News and gave a sardonic “Bless his heart” for Romney’s relative quiet during the crisis.

“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,” she began.

Then she put her right index finger into the air, as if testing the wind, and said: “He did this. He waited until it was a done deal.”

Political timidity is not and has never been Palin’s thing.

Further, Romney is undoubtedly the establishment candidate of the cycle, and Palin’s disdain for the establishment has guided many of her endorsement decisions.

In 2010, she endorsed the inexperienced upstart Christine O’Donnell in Delaware’s Republican Senate primary, as well as Kentucky outsider Rand Paul in his state’s primary. Both were high-profile outsiders taking on establishment insiders. That’s how Palin herself came to power, and that’s what she likes to see in candidates.

But Gingrich, the other front-runner, has his score of challenges in wooing Palin. One that’s been rarely reported is his criticism of Palin over the years — something the famously sensitive former governor has shown little patience for when others have done it.

In April 2009 — before Palin had even resigned as governor — Gingrich delivered the kind of condescending, back-handed compliment that’s so enraged Palin’s followers over the years.

Gingrich called her a “celebrity in her own right” and said that “to go from there to becoming a national leader would take a significant amount of work.”

“Is she willing to do the kind of development of national issues and development of a national profile that would be required?” he asked.

And earlier this year, Gingrich took another dig at Palin — in something of a glass-house moment — on ABC.

“I think she’s got to slow down and be more careful and think through what she’s saying and how she’s saying it,” the famously rash Gingrich urged.

Further, Palin would take another risk by endorsing the former Speaker.

Right now, Gingrich is trying to portray himself as a Washington outsider, but with a career in D.C. spanning more than three decades, he’s vulnerable to being portrayed as the ultimate insider.

Not only that, but Gingrich has a messy personal life, and has been married three times. Palin might jeopardize her sparkling social credentials by backing someone who was conducting an illicit sexual affair at the same time he was criticizing then-President Bill Clinton during the latter’s impeachment process.

Yet if Palin chooses to pass on both Romney and Gingrich, some say she could back an ideologically pure candidate such as former Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.).

Last week, she raised eyebrows when she told Fox News’s Sean Hannity: “If voters start kind of shifting gears and deciding they want ideological consistency, then they’re going to start paying attention to, say, Rick Santorum.” She went on to praise his record on abortion, fiscal issues and foreign-policy concerns.

Santorum was so pleased that he sent a letter to supporters, trying to fundraise off Palin’s kind comments.

A Palin endorsement might, no doubt, boost Santorum’s spirit, but it probably wouldn’t be enough to erase a 20 percent to 30 percent deficit in the polls.

In other words, Palin wouldn’t be much of a difference-maker if she endorsed Santorum. She could, however, have a profound effect on the race by backing either Gingrich or Romney.

One indication that Palin might be leaning toward the option of backing a front-runner comes from an interview last week with Fox News.

“I think my personal endorsement probably doesn’t amount to a hill of beans today, at this point in the race,” she said, before slyly adding: “Maybe as the weeks progress, it would become a little bit more significant.”

In other words, she plans on making an impact.

Herman Cain could he become the next Sarah Palin?

From AllVoices.com: Herman Cain could he become the next Sarah Palin?
Now that Republican presidential nominee Herman CainHerman Cain has suspended his bid for the presidency, some are left wondering if he will become a political pundit like Sarah Palin.

As many are aware, Palin was the governor of Alaska when John McCain tapped her to be his vice president running mate in 2008. The pair did not make it to the White House, and Palin returned to her governorship.

In 2009, however, Pain resigned as governor of Alaska citing personal reasons. Since that time she has been a fixture in the news often making headlines (for better or for worse). Palin had been considered a potential candidate for the 2012 presidential election. She, however, dispelled the speculation in October when she announced she would not run for the presidency. This has not silenced her. She has been somewhat of a major voice on the political scene giving comments on the current president and congress. She has even become a political commentary for Fox News.

This brings us back to Cain, who was seen as a light weight running for president. That all changed when he became the front runner, and that became his undoing. He was then opened up for a microscopic vetting which brought up questions regarding his knowledge of world affairs and his relationship with women (just to name a few).

Now making it full circle, with Cain suspending his campaign he can still receive campaign donations. The donations can allow him to create a political action committee, which is something he alluded to during his speech Saturday in Atlanta. A Cain political action committee would allow him to remain in the limelight with his 9-9-9 tax plan and other conservative issues.

Palin Energizes Santorum WH Bid

From NewsMax.com: Palin Energizes Santorum WH Bid
Sarah Palin is using her influence to breathe new life into Rick Santorum's campaign for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.

The 2008 vice presidential nominee told Fox News' Sean Hannity, "If voters start kind of shifting gears and deciding they want ideological consistency, then they're going to start paying attention to say, Rick Santorum."

Read more on Newsmax.com: Palin Energizes Santorum WH Bid
Important: Do You Support Pres. Obama's Re-Election? Vote Here Now!

Palin also said about Santorum, "He's been consistent in wanting to protect the most vulnerable and the sanctity of life. He's been consistent in saying we need to slash the federal income tax."

Palin also commented that Santorum is a, "hardliner against Iran to help protect Israel."

She stopped short of saying she is endorsing Santorum.

"My personal endorsement probably doesn't amount to a hill of beans at this point in the race," she told Hannity before quickly adding, "Maybe as the weeks progress it would become a little bit more significant."

Santorum sent a letter to his supporters addressing Palin's supportive comments.

He said he is grateful for her remarks, adding it is clear, "other conservatives are starting to rally around our message of passionate conservatism."

Santorum also pointed out in his letter that he is also getting the backing of an Iowa evangelical leader, Pastor Cary Gordon who according to the former Pennsylvania senator, is texting hundreds of thousands of Iowa voters to get on board the campaign.

Gordon of Cornerstone World Outreach says he supports Santorum because of his positions on marriage and abortion.

Santorum is also getting a big boost from conservative filmmaker and Palin confidant Steve Bannon.

Bannon told RealClearPolitics he will have Santorum as his guest for one hour Sunday night on his KABC radio program.

Says Bannon, "We're going to give an entire hour to have him walk through his argument for why he should be the Republican nominee and specifically about Gov. Palin's comment about how he's the most ideologically consistent candidate and how that compares and contrasts with the others."

RealClearPolitics points out Palin wasn't always a big fan of Santorum.

Back in February, Santorum criticized her decision to not attend the CPAC conference in Washington.

"I wouldn't have turned it down. But I don't live in Alaska, right and I'm not the mother to all these kids, and I don't have other responsibilities like she has," he said at the time.

Palin responded back then, "I will not call him the knuckle-dragging Neanderthal that perhaps others would like to call him. I'll let his wife call him that instead."

Read more on Newsmax.com: Palin Energizes Santorum WH Bid
Important: Do You Support Pres. Obama's Re-Election? Vote Here Now!

Sarah Palin Mum On Endorsement Even as Supporters Hold Out Hope She Will Reconsider

From ABC News: Sarah Palin Mum On Endorsement Even as Supporters Hold Out Hope She Will Reconsider
DES MOINES — Sarah Palin may have been fielding calls from the GOP contenders since she decided not to enter the GOP primary in October, but according to her advisers and those with access to her she is staying mum on who she will get behind.

“She remains tightlipped about whether she will endorse a Republican candidate and if she will, who it will be,” according to an insider with knowledge of the inner workings of SarahPAC. “She has not even informed her close staff about whether she is going to make an endorsement, who it will be, or how it will be made.”

However, another source close to SarahPAC says that it does appear she may be leaning towards Newt Gingrich.

Similar to when she was mulling whether to enter the race herself or not, she is keeping her staff on their toes, and even they don’t know when she will make up her mind.

Another Palin advisor said she is not as much focused on who and when she will endorse one of the GOP contenders as trying to push a message of reforming government.

“I think her principal focus is on crony capitalism and the permanent political class,” the advisor said repeating the phrases Palin uses in her speeches and in a recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal. “She’s very passionate about this.”

The advisor noted that none of the current crop of GOP candidates are discussing these specific issues: “If you look at the Republican field, no one is picking this up as a topic … They are not addressing this.”

This same focus is what could make an endorsement difficult for Palin. Newt Gingrich was first elected to Congress in 1978 making it hard for him to shake the Washington insider label, and reports the former speaker of the House received millions in consulting fees from Freddie Mac or his health care consultancy could be too much “crony capitalism” for Palin and her loyal supporters.

Other options have similar problems, though. Rick Perry is the longest serving governor, running Texas for the last ten years, which Palin may see as the “permanent political class” she decries. He has also dodged calls that he rewarded supporters with plumb positions in the past. Although, Palin and Perry did have a friendship, and she campaigned with him in his 2010 primary against Kay Bailey Hutchison.

If she goes with Mitt Romney, her conservative supporters may feel as though she is abandoning what they have been fighting for alongside her since she was selected to be John McCain’s running mate in 2008. Herman Cain fits the outsider profile that she would be drawn to, but his recent struggles would make that an unlikely choice.

However, those same Palin supporters which any of the Republican candidates would want just aren’t ready to move on yet – or at least some of them. Despite being just 33 days from the Iowa caucuses, for some of Palin’s most ardent supporters the dream is not dead. On Wednesday in Iowa, Palin’s most passionate backers put up a television ad urging the former Alaska governor to reconsider her decision not to enter the race.

Conservatives4Palin, an online group devoted to defending and promoting Palin, put down $6,500 for an ad buy to run in the Sioux City market on the local ABC station there.

The ad, titled “The Challenge,” shows video of past Palin speeches and closes with text that reads, “Run Sarah Run.”

Ian Lazaran, one of Palin’s most devoted backers who also writes for and helps to run Conservatives4Palin, told ABC News the ad “is all we intend to do at the moment.”

Lazaran is his online handle, not his real name.

He said the group chose Iowa because it is “one of the few early states where she could actually still participate in because there are no deadlines for participating in the Iowa caucuses.” He said Sioux City was chosen because the western part of the state is a more conservative area.

Lazaran says he and her other online supporters understand that Palin reconsidering is a “long shot.” Other states that would be important for Palin to participate in if she would enter the race, like South Carolina and New Hampshire, have already had their qualifying deadline to get on to the ballot passed. Florida’s deadline is actually on the day of the Iowa caucuses, January 3.

However, those deadlines are not stopping them from trying.

“I think every Palin supporter respects her decision, but there has been such a void left in the field because of the changed circumstances since she made that decision,” Lazaran said. “The void in the field is for a conservative outsider and reformer with executive experience and there’s no other candidate that fills that void.”

Lazaran said it’s not just a gesture of support and instead the “point of the ad is to encourage her into getting in the race,” but added they will “support her either way.”

“She fits that profile while the other candidates do not. The conservative candidates don’t have executive experience and the candidates with executive experience aren’t conservative. She’s the only one that combines them both,” Lazaran explained.

Lazaran said they haven’t heard anything from Palin or her staff, but they “hope she will recognize the circumstances have changed.”

Although her most loyal followers may be hanging on to the hope Palin may change her mind, Lazaran said if she does endorse one of the GOP candidates most of her supporters will jump on board.

“I think most of her supporters will get behind who she endorses. I think most of her supporters value her judgment and they will come to the conclusion that she arrived at the correct judgment with respect to who she endorses,” Lazaran said, adding that besides Palin he doesn’t have a preference. “Most [supporters] will be prepared to support who she endorses.”

It would help any of the GOP candidates with the conservative base of the party just weeks before voting begins. It’s never clear how influential endorsements truly are, but Palin has a built-in passionate base that could also work hard for whoever they get behind, especially if they do it in a group.

This is the first ad Conservatives4Palin has put out and Lazaran said there will probably not be more television ads, but the group will continue to promote causes Palin believes in.