From The Hill: Time to bring in Sarah Palin
Michele Bachmann was a letdown from the first. She appeared as a Palin knockoff but proved herself to be merely provincial. Palin is not, nor is Rick Perry. Last year Palin, who defines herself as a “constitutional conservative,” said she would enter the race if no one else who expressed the rising geist of Tea Party values did. Perry does, and from the beginning it was Perry and Palin vs. the Establishment. But he needs to watch his back. And she needs to think about getting back in this as the Tea Party vote scurries around the margins without the unifying spirit she brought to it from the beginning; Herman Cain today, Michele Bachmann yesterday, Ron Paul the day before. Gary Johnson tomorrow. Without Sarah Palin, the Tea Party is separating out to a secondary political element with minor figures.
For the new conservative values to stabilize and advance, Palin might be a necessity. She is an archetypal figure, like John Lennon or Reagan; one that hits a primal chord in the psyche that brings awakening to some and horror to others. My guess right now is that 2012 will bring Perry/Romney, or Perry/someone else, but necessity could just as well make it Palin/Perry or Palin/someone else. And they need other helpers now; Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani. Time to commit.
A McClatchy-Marist poll last week found that Obama looks increasingly vulnerable in next year's election, with a majority of voters believing he'll lose to any Republican. The biggest gain came for Palin, the former Alaska governor who hasn't yet announced whether she'll jump into this fast-changing race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination.
The Grizzly Mama has the animal spirits and, as she has said, a “servant’s heart.” She will do the right thing. But without Perry or Palin in the White House in 2012, that which came in with the dust of the Tea Party in 2009 will be gone with the wind by 2012.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Joe McGinniss' book on Sarah Palin not among top sellers
From Chicago Tribune: Joe McGinniss' book on Sarah Palin not among top sellers
Joe McGinniss' scathing new work about former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin may have lit up headlines, but it does not seem to have translated into hot sales.
Released on Tuesday, "The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin" sits at a modest No. 58 on the Amazon new releases list. It appears nowhere on the top 100 best-sellers list for Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
Many critics panned McGinniss' book, researched after he moved in next door to the Palin family in Wasilla, Alaska, mostly because of its damning assertions about Palin and her family, many of which were attributed to unnamed sources.
When asked how the book was selling, Doris Blechman, assistant manager of Anderson's Bookshops in Naperville, gave a simple answer: "So far, it isn't."
Employees at other bookstores in the Chicago area echoed the response. Blechman mused that some people might not know that the volume is in stores. That seems unlikely, but Martine Moore of The Book Cellar in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood admitted that the book hadn't captured her attention.
"We don't even have it out on the front table," she said, noting that the store had sold only one of its five copies as of Friday.
Jason Smith, co-owner of The Book Table in Oak Park, theorized that "Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President" by Ron Suskind, released the same day, could have stolen some thunder from McGinniss' tome.
"I'm sure it will eventually do fine, but it's not quite the massive seller we had all expected it would be when he first moved next door," Smith said.
Joe McGinniss' scathing new work about former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin may have lit up headlines, but it does not seem to have translated into hot sales.
Released on Tuesday, "The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin" sits at a modest No. 58 on the Amazon new releases list. It appears nowhere on the top 100 best-sellers list for Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
Many critics panned McGinniss' book, researched after he moved in next door to the Palin family in Wasilla, Alaska, mostly because of its damning assertions about Palin and her family, many of which were attributed to unnamed sources.
When asked how the book was selling, Doris Blechman, assistant manager of Anderson's Bookshops in Naperville, gave a simple answer: "So far, it isn't."
Employees at other bookstores in the Chicago area echoed the response. Blechman mused that some people might not know that the volume is in stores. That seems unlikely, but Martine Moore of The Book Cellar in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood admitted that the book hadn't captured her attention.
"We don't even have it out on the front table," she said, noting that the store had sold only one of its five copies as of Friday.
Jason Smith, co-owner of The Book Table in Oak Park, theorized that "Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President" by Ron Suskind, released the same day, could have stolen some thunder from McGinniss' tome.
"I'm sure it will eventually do fine, but it's not quite the massive seller we had all expected it would be when he first moved next door," Smith said.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Next-door observations of Sarah Palin
From Miami Herald.com: Next-door observations of Sarah Palin
Joe McGinniss lived next door to the former Alaskan governor as part of his research of her.
Joe McGinniss lived next door to the former Alaskan governor as part of his research of her.
By Beth Fouhy
This “investigative chronicle” of the former Alaska governor will be catnip for Palin haters hoping to see her discredited as a potential presidential candidate. But the gossipy tale provides little new information on its subject and draws too much of its material from unnamed sources or avowed Palin critics with axes to grind.
Joe McGinniss, a veteran journalist and author of several critically acclaimed political tomes, created a stir in 2010 when he moved into a rental property next door to the Palin home in Wasilla to conduct his research. His anecdotes about life as Palin’s unwanted neighbor are hilarious, riveting and the most enjoyable part of the book.
McGinniss paints a deeply unflattering portrait of Palin, casting her as ill-informed, coldblooded, narcissistic and vengeful. Others have offered a similar view of the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, from John Heilemann and Mark Halperin’s bestselling Game Change to Levi Johnston, the former fiance of Palin’s eldest daughter, Bristol, who has given many interviews about the Palin family and whose own book about them comes out Tuesday.
McGinnis also throws in some new and prurient details, suggesting Palin and husband Todd used cocaine and that she booted a pair of house guests after finding baby oil in their bedroom.
“Todd says, ‘Sarah wants you out. She’s really upset thinkin’ you’re in there having sex with baby oil.’ We left. We went to a motel,” the unnamed guest told McGinniss.
McGinniss’ reliance on such unnamed sources and quotes weakens the book’s credibility. Too often, his most titillating or revealing material comes from mysterious people identified as “an old friend,” “a friend of Todd” or “a lawyer in Wasilla.” Most of those willing to be quoted by name are former Palin loyalists who have broken with her, including John Stein, whom Palin defeated in 1996 to become Wasilla mayor, and John Bitney, who helped steer her campaign for governor in 2006 but whom she later ousted as legislative director.
The most sensational passage in the book deals with Glen Rice, a former NBA basketball star whom McGinniss claims had a brief sexual relationship with Palin in 1987, before she and Todd were married. But Rice never fully confirms McGinniss’ story.
The book’s most serious chapters pertain to Palin’s record in Wasilla and later as governor. McGinniss debunks her image as a fiscal conservative, noting that she left Wasilla with almost $20 million in bonded debt when she left office and lobbied for millions in federal earmarks for the town and later the state — the kind of “pork barrel” spending conservatives typically deplore.
But McGinniss’ experience living next door to the Palins for five months offers the most telling portrait of Sarah Palin’s style and personality. McGinniss claims he merely took the house because it was one of few rental properties available in the area. He promised Todd Palin he would not spy on their family and would not publish anything he learned from living next door.
But Palin went to war nonetheless, trashing McGinniss on Fox News and posting on Facebook shortly after his arrival that he was an unwanted stalker “peering” at her and her children, including her then 9-year-old daughter, Piper.
Verne Rupright, who succeeded Palin as Wasilla mayor, offered McGinniss a handgun when the two sat for an interview and told him, “People around here don’t (care) about Sarah anymore. They’re burned out on all her drama.”
With his book so suffused with Palin drama, McGinniss had better hope that’s not an accurate assessment.
Beth Fouhy reviewed this book for The Associated Press.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Will Sarah Palin be the October surprise?
From The Christian Science Monitor: Will Sarah Palin be the October surprise?
One national poll shows Sarah Palin surging ahead of Rick Perry in a head to head matchup against Barack Obama. Will Sarah Palin announce her candidacy in time for the Florida primary deadline?
First, Joe McGinniss’s tell-all book about her was slammed by the mainstream media (those coming to Palin’s defense included the New York Times and even liberal antagonist Keith Olbermann).
Now, a new national poll shows her trailing President Obama in a head-to-head matchup by just 5 points, 44 to 49 - this, after she had trailed him by more than 20 points for most of the year. That’s better than current GOP frontrunner Rick Perry, who trails the president 41 to 50 in the same poll.
According to the survey, Palin’s recent jump in support has come mostly from independents, who have lately been abandoning the president in droves. Still, she remains a controversial figure: 72 percent of Republicans and independents in the same survey also said they don’t actually think Palin should run.
And that remains the question: will she or won’t she? Palin recently told Fox News that she thinks there’s “still time” for candidates to get into the race, and that she’s “still considering” it. She repeatedly said she believed it would be an “unconventional” election year.
Palin did acknowledge that there are deadlines looming to get on the ballot in certain primary and caucus states. (Florida, for example, has a deadline of Oct. 31.)
Still, a late entry isn’t necessarily insurmountable, particularly for candidates with high name recognition and easy access to cash. In 1995, self-funded candidate Steve Forbes waited until October to announce, and quickly became the strongest challenger to ultimate GOP nominee Bob Dole. Forbes made up for his lack of on-the-ground campaigning by blanketing the airwaves in early primary and caucus states with ads.
Palin may string everyone along for a while yet.
One national poll shows Sarah Palin surging ahead of Rick Perry in a head to head matchup against Barack Obama. Will Sarah Palin announce her candidacy in time for the Florida primary deadline?
First, Joe McGinniss’s tell-all book about her was slammed by the mainstream media (those coming to Palin’s defense included the New York Times and even liberal antagonist Keith Olbermann).
Now, a new national poll shows her trailing President Obama in a head-to-head matchup by just 5 points, 44 to 49 - this, after she had trailed him by more than 20 points for most of the year. That’s better than current GOP frontrunner Rick Perry, who trails the president 41 to 50 in the same poll.
According to the survey, Palin’s recent jump in support has come mostly from independents, who have lately been abandoning the president in droves. Still, she remains a controversial figure: 72 percent of Republicans and independents in the same survey also said they don’t actually think Palin should run.
And that remains the question: will she or won’t she? Palin recently told Fox News that she thinks there’s “still time” for candidates to get into the race, and that she’s “still considering” it. She repeatedly said she believed it would be an “unconventional” election year.
Palin did acknowledge that there are deadlines looming to get on the ballot in certain primary and caucus states. (Florida, for example, has a deadline of Oct. 31.)
Still, a late entry isn’t necessarily insurmountable, particularly for candidates with high name recognition and easy access to cash. In 1995, self-funded candidate Steve Forbes waited until October to announce, and quickly became the strongest challenger to ultimate GOP nominee Bob Dole. Forbes made up for his lack of on-the-ground campaigning by blanketing the airwaves in early primary and caucus states with ads.
Palin may string everyone along for a while yet.
Gossip: Levi Johnston: Sarah Palin and Hubby Todd Had Separate Bedrooms!
My parents also have separate bedrooms. My mom snores! Big deal!
EOnline: Levi Johnston: Sarah Palin and Hubby Todd Had Separate Bedrooms!
Levi Johnston has become the permanent thorn in Sarah Palin's side—and he's not shutting his trap any time soon, especially with a tell-all book to promote.
After revealing that he thinks the former vice presidential candidate had a "cougar crush" on his much younger self, Johnston is now telling E! News that Sarah and her snowmobile-jockey husband, Todd, don't even sleep in the same bed.
In fact, Todd's been banished to the couch.
Say what?!
MORE: Bristol calls Levi a gnat
"Todd slept on a little black leather sofa, not even a comfy one! And Sarah always slept in the bed. Since I've known the family, that's how it's always been,"Johnston exclusively tells us.
Oh and he's not stopping there. Levi, who once tried to make amends with the Palins (and tells us Sarah used to refer to him as her "second son"), also says he's preparing to take baby mama Bristol to court because she is trying to prevent him from seeing their baby, Tripp, by taking the tyke out of the state.
"Oh yeah, you betcha," Levi says of going to court, mimicking Sarah's famous line before catching himself and quickly adding: "I probably shouldn't say that."
MORE: Levi takes back his apology
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PlayLevi Johnston Spills Palin Secrets
PlaySarah Palin's Cougar Crush on Levi?
PlayArnold Schwarzenegger Penning Memoir
Levi says he's legally supposd to see Tripp twice a week, but that Bristol "makes that impossible," and he's only seen his boy once in the past month. He doesn't like the idea that people see him as a deadbeat dad.
"I know that's what everyone says, the media, it's ridiculous what she says," Johnston says. "I didn't give Bristol's book the time of day."
He also tackles the touchy subject of Bristol's claims she was date-raped by him after a number of wine coolers and that he "stole" her virginity.
"We dated for several years and made love," he tells us. "For her to say something like that, that's just a road you should never go down.
"She was not drunk. I was buzzed...It's unbelievable. It takes two. I don't know what else to say."
Finally, he says he is still holding out hope that one of his reality-TV pitches will catch on so he can get some income to support his son. Failing that, he is also planning to start a tour-guide company with his dad and he wants to get his pilot's license.
"This is the truth," he tells us. "I just want to see my son."
EOnline: Levi Johnston: Sarah Palin and Hubby Todd Had Separate Bedrooms!
Levi Johnston has become the permanent thorn in Sarah Palin's side—and he's not shutting his trap any time soon, especially with a tell-all book to promote.
After revealing that he thinks the former vice presidential candidate had a "cougar crush" on his much younger self, Johnston is now telling E! News that Sarah and her snowmobile-jockey husband, Todd, don't even sleep in the same bed.
In fact, Todd's been banished to the couch.
Say what?!
MORE: Bristol calls Levi a gnat
"Todd slept on a little black leather sofa, not even a comfy one! And Sarah always slept in the bed. Since I've known the family, that's how it's always been,"Johnston exclusively tells us.
Oh and he's not stopping there. Levi, who once tried to make amends with the Palins (and tells us Sarah used to refer to him as her "second son"), also says he's preparing to take baby mama Bristol to court because she is trying to prevent him from seeing their baby, Tripp, by taking the tyke out of the state.
"Oh yeah, you betcha," Levi says of going to court, mimicking Sarah's famous line before catching himself and quickly adding: "I probably shouldn't say that."
MORE: Levi takes back his apology
Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player. Get the latest Flash player.
PlayLevi Johnston Spills Palin Secrets
PlaySarah Palin's Cougar Crush on Levi?
PlayArnold Schwarzenegger Penning Memoir
Levi says he's legally supposd to see Tripp twice a week, but that Bristol "makes that impossible," and he's only seen his boy once in the past month. He doesn't like the idea that people see him as a deadbeat dad.
"I know that's what everyone says, the media, it's ridiculous what she says," Johnston says. "I didn't give Bristol's book the time of day."
He also tackles the touchy subject of Bristol's claims she was date-raped by him after a number of wine coolers and that he "stole" her virginity.
"We dated for several years and made love," he tells us. "For her to say something like that, that's just a road you should never go down.
"She was not drunk. I was buzzed...It's unbelievable. It takes two. I don't know what else to say."
Finally, he says he is still holding out hope that one of his reality-TV pitches will catch on so he can get some income to support his son. Failing that, he is also planning to start a tour-guide company with his dad and he wants to get his pilot's license.
"This is the truth," he tells us. "I just want to see my son."
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Sarah Palin Can Play Democratic Strategist, Too
The Atlantic Wire: Sarah Palin Can Play Democratic Strategist, Too
Sarah Palin is advising Democrats to mount a primary challenge to President Obama in 2012, joining Dick Cheney and Ralph Nader as humble outside advisers with only the best interests of the Democratic Party at heart. Just kidding -- Nader wants to stay famous, Cheney wants to control the historical narrative of his controversial tenure as vice-president, and Palin wants people to at least think she's still running for president.
On Fox News Tuesday, Palin told Sean Hannity, "More and more Democrats are going to realize that if they want to retain the Democrat control of the White House they’re going to have to put somebody up in the primary against Obama." Palin's advice echoes Cheney's, who earlier this month urged Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to run against her boss in 2012. "So far, she hasn't said she would, but I think it's not a bad idea," Cheney told ABC News. "And frankly, I thought she was gonna win the nomination last time around. Maybe if the Obama record is bad enough -- and these days it's not very good, given the shape of the economy -- maybe there will be enough ferment in the Democratic Party so that there will be a primary on their side." (Clinton responded that the chances she'd run against Obama are "below zero.")
Nader, meanwhile, is calling for a handful of Democrats to run against Obama -- not to beat him, but just to attack him for not living up to progressive ideals, which Nader says will somehow rally the base to his side in the general election. He also said Palin would make a good addition to the presidential race because she's started to rail against "crony capitalism" -- sounding like an anti-corporatists, Nader says, as in sounding like Nader.
And Palin reiterated those talking points Tuesday, saying the election would be about ousting people who'd "followedl ike sheep" behind Obama and his "crony capitalism and corporate welfare." Though she admitted time is running out before she runs into the first deadline to get on a primary ballot on October 31, of the current Republican lineup, Palin told Hanity, "I think people are still going to be coming and going because there is still time, and I’m still one of those still considering." When Hannity asked her thoughts on the current "top three" -- Rick Perry, Mitt Romney, and Michele Bachmann, Palin flinched ever so slightly. "Ron Paul may be in front of Michele Bachmann, according to certain polls. Shoot, I’ve seen my own name up there in the top three."
Modestly, Palin granted, "I dont know how legitimate the poll is that I just looked at that said that" -- but notice she said she "just looked at" the poll -- as if it were a current one, not the polls six months ago that put her on top. A new poll from McClatchy-Marist shows Palin 5 points behind Obama in a general election -- after polling 20 points behind him earlier this year. Pollsters attributed the decline to Obama's falling support among independents. As CNN's Paul Steinhauser notes, "The poll indicates that Palin now leads the president among crucial independent voters." Still, he adds, "By a 72 to 24 percent margin, Republicans and independents who lean toward the GOP do not want Palin to run for the White House."
Meanwhile, Obama still sees Palin as a helpful fundraising tool, Politico's Alexander Burns notes. He told fundraisers in New York Tuesday night, "All that 'hopey changey stuff,' as they say? That was real."
Levi Johnston on Sarah Palin: "She Had a Cougar Crush on Me!"
Someone please slap this guy! EOnline appears to believe him, but I'd be willing to bet a gazillion bucks he's lying just to get yet more publicity.
From EOnline: Levi Johnston on Sarah Palin: "She Had a Cougar Crush on Me!"
From EOnline: Levi Johnston on Sarah Palin: "She Had a Cougar Crush on Me!"
Well, that's kind of disturbing.
E! News caught up with Levi Johnston to talk about the release of his tell-all book, when he told us that now, looking back, it seems as though his ex-fiancée's mother, Sarah Palin, had the hots for him.
"Even growing up my friends would always say that [Palin would flirt with him], it seems kind of weird. Then one of my publishers said she had a cougar crush on me!"
MORE: Levi Johnston's Sister Goes Off on "Evil" Bristol Palin
"I guess I'd say, 'Yeah, I think she did.' Now looking back and remembering what everyone said. She never touched me or anything like that! Now it kind of weirds me out thinking about it," he says.
Well, it weirds us out, too.
The music-video star also tells us that his son with Bristol Palin was no accident and that the young Dancing With the Stars alum wanted to have a baby after her mother had Trig.
A planned teenage pregnancy?
"Bristol wanted to have a baby," he says, countering the Palins' version of what happened. "It all happened on purpose."
"I wasn't tricked into it…I kind of went with it," adds Johnston, adding that when he and Bristol briefly reconciled, they talked about having Baby No. 2.
So soon?
Explains Johnston: "She loves kids."
Sarah Palin Trails Barack Obama In 2012 Poll By Just Five Points
From Huff Post: Sarah Palin Trails Barack Obama In 2012 Poll By Just Five Points
According to a new poll, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin trails President Barack Obama by just five points in the 2012 election race.
Though Palin has not officially announced her candidacy, the McClatchy-Marist poll shows that 44 percent of Americans would vote for her as president, just behind 49 percent who favor Obama.
The same poll, however, also shows 72 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents opposing a run by Palin.
There has been much speculation about a Palin presidential run, fueled by her bus tour this summer along the East Coast and recent appearances in Iowa.
Several political figures have spoken out about a potential Palin campaign. Former George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove said Palin's stops in Iowa and other key states pointed to a likely run for the presidency.
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney said it would be a "good thing" for Palin to enter the race.
"She would make the race that much more exciting, bring more people to watch the debates, and I hope she gets in," he told USA Today.
Though Palin originally said she would decide on a presidential run by the end of September, she told Fox News' Sean Hannity on Tuesday she had postponed her decision until November.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
GossipL Why Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann Could Never Be Democrats
From GlossyNews.com: Why Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann Could Never Be Democrats
Really I don’t understand why so many Liberals I have lots of admiration for get kinda ‘mouth foamy’ at the mention of Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachmann. My liberal friends seem to genuinely despise those two women. Myself, I don’t really hate anybody. Except for the guy who did that ‘Pina Colada” song; he should be water boarded.
Well, I have done extensive research on this vexing topic, in the fine tradition of the NY Time’s Jayson Blair. So, here’s what I made up.
There’s little doubt that either Ms. Palin or Ms. Bachmann would be rock stars in the Democratic Party. Imagine Sarah Palin in an alternate universe where she’s a Democrat and Mr. Spock has a goatee. Palin would speak at the 2012 Democratic Party Convention and say something like, “With regard to my treasured son Trig, Todd & I knew beforehand that Trig would be mentally challenged, but we chose to bring him into the world anyway, and encourage all parents to make a similar choice. But I will fight for every woman’s right to make reproductive choices without government interference!”
Standing ovation, there’s your 2016 Dem nomination front runner right there. Same narrative could be constructed for Michelle Bachmann to shoot her to stardom as a Democrat as well. She and husband have foster parented something like 1800 kids, right? You should see those little urchins’ handmade leather wallets. The stitching is superb.
So what are the headwaters of all the eager vilification of two women who’ve certainly accomplished a lot? Maybe it’s because Palin and Bachmann are taken for traitors to Feminism.
Big ‘F’ Feminism is seen by many on the Left as a great start from the 1960’s but a never ending crusade for truth, justice, and the American way. You know what that means; more work for attorneys.
Neither Palin nor Bachmann seem ready to acknowledge that efforts of Democrats probably helped them get where they are. What’s worse to the Left is both women seem to suggest the struggle for women’s rights is pretty much complete. Such wild talk leaves some attorneys without briefs.
Is there not one cultural issue in this country that can ever be settled, short of massive bloodletting? Why can’t Palin or Bachmann be taken on in the realm of ideas? Why can’t President Obama be taken on in the realm of ideas? How many boogey-person piñatas are required for the Left and Right to flail at with Louisville sluggers until our arms get tired?
Really I don’t understand why so many Liberals I have lots of admiration for get kinda ‘mouth foamy’ at the mention of Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachmann. My liberal friends seem to genuinely despise those two women. Myself, I don’t really hate anybody. Except for the guy who did that ‘Pina Colada” song; he should be water boarded.
Well, I have done extensive research on this vexing topic, in the fine tradition of the NY Time’s Jayson Blair. So, here’s what I made up.
There’s little doubt that either Ms. Palin or Ms. Bachmann would be rock stars in the Democratic Party. Imagine Sarah Palin in an alternate universe where she’s a Democrat and Mr. Spock has a goatee. Palin would speak at the 2012 Democratic Party Convention and say something like, “With regard to my treasured son Trig, Todd & I knew beforehand that Trig would be mentally challenged, but we chose to bring him into the world anyway, and encourage all parents to make a similar choice. But I will fight for every woman’s right to make reproductive choices without government interference!”
Standing ovation, there’s your 2016 Dem nomination front runner right there. Same narrative could be constructed for Michelle Bachmann to shoot her to stardom as a Democrat as well. She and husband have foster parented something like 1800 kids, right? You should see those little urchins’ handmade leather wallets. The stitching is superb.
So what are the headwaters of all the eager vilification of two women who’ve certainly accomplished a lot? Maybe it’s because Palin and Bachmann are taken for traitors to Feminism.
Big ‘F’ Feminism is seen by many on the Left as a great start from the 1960’s but a never ending crusade for truth, justice, and the American way. You know what that means; more work for attorneys.
Neither Palin nor Bachmann seem ready to acknowledge that efforts of Democrats probably helped them get where they are. What’s worse to the Left is both women seem to suggest the struggle for women’s rights is pretty much complete. Such wild talk leaves some attorneys without briefs.
Is there not one cultural issue in this country that can ever be settled, short of massive bloodletting? Why can’t Palin or Bachmann be taken on in the realm of ideas? Why can’t President Obama be taken on in the realm of ideas? How many boogey-person piñatas are required for the Left and Right to flail at with Louisville sluggers until our arms get tired?
News of a Sort: 'Big Hair Alaska': Can Sarah Palin's Beauty Parlor Make For Good TV?
From The Atlantic: 'Big Hair Alaska': Can Sarah Palin's Beauty Parlor Make For Good TV?
When John McCain introduced his running-mate in the summer of 2008, Sarah Palin faced the world for the first time. She emerged onstage with her hair pulled back in an updo, her bangs curled over her forehead, looking like a beauty queen—which, as it turned out, she was.
Palin had big hair. But as Melanie Griffith taught us in Working Girl, "If you want to be taken seriously, you need serious hair." Palin had been going to the same beauty salon for years, long before her ascent in politics and tabloids. She and her hair learned a thing or two along the way, and together, tried to be taken seriously. Jessica Steele, the owner of Wasilla's Beehive Beauty Shop, wielded the scissors and comb behind the scenes, sculpting Palin's do as it evolved over the course of her career. Steele will now step out into the spotlight with a reality show to premiere tonight on TLC—the network behind the season-long run of Sarah Palin's Alaska. The title of Steele's program has a familiar ring to it: Big Hair Alaska.
"The client that really put me on the map was Sarah Palin," Steele says in the premiere, explaining that she created the updo "so that those earrings didn't get stuck in her hair when people give her hugs and stuff. And it just kind of evolved into her classic look."
The first episode opens with a series of three shots: a stream rolling over a rocky path, a grizzly bear, and Steele's salon. Out of context, a viewer might think that one of these images is not like the other, and the salon does not belong with the other two. Not so, in Wasilla, Alaska, as we soon learn from a distraught client, Julia, who arrives at the Beehive with news involving her 15-year-old son and an angry bear. This type of storytelling is commonplace in beauty shops everywhere, but the details of the tale are distinctly Alaskan.
"Sheldon said he could still remember the way it felt, feeling that fur go over his face," Julia says as Steele combs back her hair and sighs. Sheldon then drives up to the salon in a four-wheel motor bike for his own haircut, and tells his mom that he plans to go out hunting that evening. Steele explains to the folks at home that, where she's from, danger is everywhere. And when your child goes out hunting, you've just got to pray.
The salon has bubblegum pink walls and sundry girly accoutrements—chandeliers, glitter, beauty supplies. Although the Beehive gained recognition for catering to Palin, who has remained a client, the show isn't overtly political. Like any salon, it's an escape, where the cosmetic supersedes one's inner convictions. "Big Hair Alaska" acknowledges Palin as its raison d'être, laughs at it, and moves on.
"So we've got another client coming in," Steele announces at her staff meeting. "She's a ventriloquist, puppeteer, Sarah Palin impersonator."
"What?"
Steele turns to one of the stylists, Mariah, to explain, "I do the real Sarah Palin. That's our home girl. You can do the wannabe."
"The knockoff," Mariah replies.
The client, Hillary Saffran, is an entertainer of many moods—clown, puppeteer, singer, inspirational speaker—whose Sarah Palin impression cannot clearly be placed as either affectionate parody or mean-spirited satire. She requests the same hair coloring as Palin—"Let's Palinize!"—but Steele says, "Nobody gets her formula." Saffran is made into a similar but imperfect reproduction. Nonetheless satisfied with her makeover, she serenades a baffled Mariah with an original song, with the assistance of two hand puppets (a polar bear and a moose). Mariah laughs uncomfortably.
Saffran is pleased: "Thank you, I'm so glad you laughed. Because I'm co-dependent and I really wanted you to like me. No, that's not Sarah, that was Hillary talking."
With that, the show leaves Palin behind and focuses on the inner-workings of the salon. In the next episode, Steele sets out to hire a new stylist, a client pains to part with her long hair, and a crew of roller derby girls get hairdos to suit their team personas. (One of them, a native of Wasilla, has taken on a fitting roller girl name: "Sarah Impale'em.") Throughout, the reality-TV drama unfolds in the standard, formulaic way, tuning up the pre-commercial break panic, which is neatly resolved shortly thereafter.
The most persistent tension for Steele is her difficulty in balancing her responsibilities as a mother and as a boss. The show opens on her first week back at work after having taken time off to help her daughter through a serious spinal injury. Her 13-year-old, Shelby, hit a tree while sledding last March. For the most part, the details of her recovery are left unexamined, except during a scene when Steele leaves a client in her chair for an appointment with her daughter's physical therapist. The cameras capture Steele's distress as it swells throughout the workday. She worries, she cries, she suffers genuine guilt, which would seem to be further complicated by the presence of a watchful television crew. But this is the very voyeurism reality-TV is built on, of course, as viewers tune in for the hair that falls out of place.
If this show is a glimpse into the "Real America" to which Palin has referred, it might have an ethnographic value of sorts. The same has been said of other reality-TV shows--perhaps most notably, MTV's Jersey Shore, which inspired such academic curiosity that a University of Chicago student has organized a three-day conference for deep scholarly analysis of the phenomenon. But if there are two ways of watching reality-TV—for immersion or for criticism—then there can be only one "real" way, the way viewers come back to a show because it draws them in, and speaks to them, without any pretense of meta observation. The test for Big Hair Alaska will be its ability to operate on this level, and meet audiences with the kind of friendly familiarity that, say, Sarah Palin does with her supporters. Whether it succeeds will rest on the help of some serious hair.
When John McCain introduced his running-mate in the summer of 2008, Sarah Palin faced the world for the first time. She emerged onstage with her hair pulled back in an updo, her bangs curled over her forehead, looking like a beauty queen—which, as it turned out, she was.
Palin had big hair. But as Melanie Griffith taught us in Working Girl, "If you want to be taken seriously, you need serious hair." Palin had been going to the same beauty salon for years, long before her ascent in politics and tabloids. She and her hair learned a thing or two along the way, and together, tried to be taken seriously. Jessica Steele, the owner of Wasilla's Beehive Beauty Shop, wielded the scissors and comb behind the scenes, sculpting Palin's do as it evolved over the course of her career. Steele will now step out into the spotlight with a reality show to premiere tonight on TLC—the network behind the season-long run of Sarah Palin's Alaska. The title of Steele's program has a familiar ring to it: Big Hair Alaska.
"The client that really put me on the map was Sarah Palin," Steele says in the premiere, explaining that she created the updo "so that those earrings didn't get stuck in her hair when people give her hugs and stuff. And it just kind of evolved into her classic look."
The first episode opens with a series of three shots: a stream rolling over a rocky path, a grizzly bear, and Steele's salon. Out of context, a viewer might think that one of these images is not like the other, and the salon does not belong with the other two. Not so, in Wasilla, Alaska, as we soon learn from a distraught client, Julia, who arrives at the Beehive with news involving her 15-year-old son and an angry bear. This type of storytelling is commonplace in beauty shops everywhere, but the details of the tale are distinctly Alaskan.
"Sheldon said he could still remember the way it felt, feeling that fur go over his face," Julia says as Steele combs back her hair and sighs. Sheldon then drives up to the salon in a four-wheel motor bike for his own haircut, and tells his mom that he plans to go out hunting that evening. Steele explains to the folks at home that, where she's from, danger is everywhere. And when your child goes out hunting, you've just got to pray.
The salon has bubblegum pink walls and sundry girly accoutrements—chandeliers, glitter, beauty supplies. Although the Beehive gained recognition for catering to Palin, who has remained a client, the show isn't overtly political. Like any salon, it's an escape, where the cosmetic supersedes one's inner convictions. "Big Hair Alaska" acknowledges Palin as its raison d'être, laughs at it, and moves on.
"So we've got another client coming in," Steele announces at her staff meeting. "She's a ventriloquist, puppeteer, Sarah Palin impersonator."
"What?"
Steele turns to one of the stylists, Mariah, to explain, "I do the real Sarah Palin. That's our home girl. You can do the wannabe."
"The knockoff," Mariah replies.
The client, Hillary Saffran, is an entertainer of many moods—clown, puppeteer, singer, inspirational speaker—whose Sarah Palin impression cannot clearly be placed as either affectionate parody or mean-spirited satire. She requests the same hair coloring as Palin—"Let's Palinize!"—but Steele says, "Nobody gets her formula." Saffran is made into a similar but imperfect reproduction. Nonetheless satisfied with her makeover, she serenades a baffled Mariah with an original song, with the assistance of two hand puppets (a polar bear and a moose). Mariah laughs uncomfortably.
Saffran is pleased: "Thank you, I'm so glad you laughed. Because I'm co-dependent and I really wanted you to like me. No, that's not Sarah, that was Hillary talking."
With that, the show leaves Palin behind and focuses on the inner-workings of the salon. In the next episode, Steele sets out to hire a new stylist, a client pains to part with her long hair, and a crew of roller derby girls get hairdos to suit their team personas. (One of them, a native of Wasilla, has taken on a fitting roller girl name: "Sarah Impale'em.") Throughout, the reality-TV drama unfolds in the standard, formulaic way, tuning up the pre-commercial break panic, which is neatly resolved shortly thereafter.
The most persistent tension for Steele is her difficulty in balancing her responsibilities as a mother and as a boss. The show opens on her first week back at work after having taken time off to help her daughter through a serious spinal injury. Her 13-year-old, Shelby, hit a tree while sledding last March. For the most part, the details of her recovery are left unexamined, except during a scene when Steele leaves a client in her chair for an appointment with her daughter's physical therapist. The cameras capture Steele's distress as it swells throughout the workday. She worries, she cries, she suffers genuine guilt, which would seem to be further complicated by the presence of a watchful television crew. But this is the very voyeurism reality-TV is built on, of course, as viewers tune in for the hair that falls out of place.
If this show is a glimpse into the "Real America" to which Palin has referred, it might have an ethnographic value of sorts. The same has been said of other reality-TV shows--perhaps most notably, MTV's Jersey Shore, which inspired such academic curiosity that a University of Chicago student has organized a three-day conference for deep scholarly analysis of the phenomenon. But if there are two ways of watching reality-TV—for immersion or for criticism—then there can be only one "real" way, the way viewers come back to a show because it draws them in, and speaks to them, without any pretense of meta observation. The test for Big Hair Alaska will be its ability to operate on this level, and meet audiences with the kind of friendly familiarity that, say, Sarah Palin does with her supporters. Whether it succeeds will rest on the help of some serious hair.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
On HPV, Palin Makes First Overt Attack on Perry
From the New York Times: On HPV, Palin Makes First Overt Attack on Perry
Sarah Palin might have sounded like an ally of Representative Michele Bachmann on Monday night when she assailed an executive order in Texas mandating that girls receive the HPV vaccine, calling it a possible product of “crony capitalism.”
But, as Ms. Palin continues to consider her own presidential bid, the comments could also be interpreted as her first overt attack on Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, the man who signed the 2007 order -– a move he later withdrew and was forced to defend at the Republican debate on Monday night.
“I knew even at that time something was up with that issue,” Ms. Palin said on Fox News after the debate, noting that Mr. Perry’s former chief of staff had ties to Merck, the company that manufactures the Gardasil vaccine. “And now we’re finding out, yeah, something was up with that issue. It was an illustration or a bit of evidence of some crony capitalism.”
All three politicians – Ms. Palin, Mrs. Bachmann and Mr. Perry – would need to rely on both social conservatives and Tea Party activists to win the G.O.P. nomination. So it’s not hard to see why the issue is proving appealing fodder for the two women. They can use it to undermine Mr. Perry’s credibility with social conservatives by noting that he would have required girls under 12 to be inoculated against the virus that causes cervical cancer, which is generally transmitted sexually. And the argument that his move was influenced by donations and ties to lobbyists appeals to Tea Party supporters skeptical of government authority and backroom political dealing.
When Ms. Palin first used the term “crony capitalism” in a speech in Iowa this month to describe generally the process by which lawmakers become wealthy by using taxpayer dollars to benefit corporations and donors, she would not say whether her comments were directed at Mr. Perry.
In fact, up to this point, Ms. Palin had resisted directly criticizing Mr. Perry. Last year, she campaigned for Mr. Perry as he fought back a challenge from Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison in the Republican primary for governor. In January 2010, she posted a note on Facebook saying she looked forward to supporting him and other candidates “so they can continue to fight for our American values.” (The other two she mentioned by name, by the way, were Senator John McCain and Mrs. Bachmann.)
During that race Ms. Palin said Mr. Perry “walks the walk of a true conservative,” and the two are thought to have a cordial relationship off the campaign trail.
Up to this point in the Republican race, Ms. Palin has called Mr. Perry a “fine candidate” and defended him after he called the policies of the Federal Reserve shairman, Ben S. Bernanke, “treasonous,” saying that Mr. Perry was “voicing great concerns that many of us share.”
And during a recent trip to Iowa, when asked to contrast their records as governor, Ms. Palin declined, noting that Texas has a weak executive office.
“That doesn’t mean he’s doing a better job or worse job than any other governor, including myself,” said Ms. Palin, the former governor of Alaska.
Mrs. Bachmann is taking the “crony capitalist” line and running with it. We’re still waiting to see whether Ms. Palin lets Mrs. Bachmann continue to be the sole beneficiary, or if she’ll start using the phrase in her own campaign.
Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin Stress Rick Perry’s ‘Crony Capitalism’
From DT Death and Taxesmag: Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin Stress Rick Perry’s ‘Crony Capitalism’
Michele Bachmann again raised the specter of Rick Perry’s “crony capitalism” after last night’s Republican presidential debate. So too did Sarah Palin.
Michele Bachmann again raised the specter of Rick Perry’s “crony capitalism” after last night’s Republican presidential debate. So too did Sarah Palin.
Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin Stress Rick Perry’s ‘Crony Capitalism’
By Andrew Belonsky Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Michele Bachmann again raised the specter of Rick Perry’s “crony capitalism” after last night’s Republican presidential debate. So too did Sarah Palin.
Michele Bachmann is getting a lot of attention for her presidential debate claim that Rick Perry supported an HPV vaccine law because the drug’s maker, Merck, donated to his gubernatorial campaign.
Clearly the congresswoman has faith in this line of attack, because she reiterated it during a post-debate interview.
“I think it’s important to point out that this donor — like so many other of the governor’s donors — received appointments, received political favors, and I think that we’re going to hear a lot more about that in the course of the campaign, because this is what the American people don’t want,” said Bachmann to Fox News. “They don’t want crony capitalism.”
She went on, “[Voters] don’t want crony capitalism. It infuriates them. We saw that with President Obama, when we saw over $500 million dollars go to Solyndra, who was a political donor of President Obama. It’s no better when Republicans engage in that, as well. People don’t want crony capitalism.”
Bachmann said basically the same thing about Perry again on NBC’s ‘Today Show’ this morning, “It’s very clear that crony capitalism could have likely been the cause [of the HPV order.]”
Sarah Palin, a fan of the term, also charged Perry with “crony capitalism,” saying, “Fighting the crony capitalism is a tough thing to do within in your own party.”
“You have to go up against the big guns and they will try to destroy you when you call them out on the mistakes they have made,” Palin told Fox News last night.
And GOP 12 points out that Newt Gingrich employed the phrase by praising Palin’s original usage: “I do want to say, by the way, that Governor Palin’s speech in Iowa last weekend [two weekends ago] on crony capitalism and on the problems of both parties is a very, very important speech.”
Gingrich is simply trying to ride the governor’s linguistic coattails, but his adoption of “crony capitalism” and, more notably, Bachmann’s related remarks about on Perry suggest that the term will soon become a common accusation, one that thrusts the unsavory intersection of corporate money and politics straight into the 2012 campaign.
With the new, extraordinarily wealthy Super PACs spending lavishly, and the Koch Brothers still looming large, big money is more than ever a shadow candidate as politicians and executives all trying to get the most bang for their buck. Whether it be tax cuts or electoral support, everyone involved in the big business ballot race has something to gain.
Obama too faces charges of “crony capitalism.” Sarah Palin was directing her original comment at him, and as Bachmann said, the Solyndra scandal casts the most recent shadow, however dim, on his administration’s business relations.
But the most immediate question in all of this is will these charges of crony capitalism stick to Rick Perry and his shady dealings, like his work with Texas businessman Harold Simmons, or will they simply spark greater scrutiny of all the candidates’ backroom concerns, highlighting truths the White House hopefuls would rather stay hidden? Or will “crony capitalism” simply get swept away by another linguistic craze?
Gossip: Levi Johnston: Bristol Palin wanted to get pregnant
I hope Levi's book tanks. But then, I wish Bristol Palin's book tanked. These people are nobodies - if it weren't for their acquaintance with a famous woman - ie Sarah Palin, they'd be just one more sordid story of a teenage girl getting pregnant because she doesn't know enough to use condoms, or better still, to pick a guy who isn't such a sleaze bag.
From Lifeline Live: Levi Johnston: Bristol Palin wanted to get pregnant
From Lifeline Live: Levi Johnston: Bristol Palin wanted to get pregnant
We've heard from Bristol. Now it's Levi's turn.
In his new book, Deer in the Headlights: My Life in Sarah Palin's Crosshairs, Levi Johnston writes that his ex-girlfriend Bristol Palin was so angry about her mother's pregnancy with son Trig that she wanted to get pregnant, too.
He says she told him when she found out her mother was expecting in March 2008, "Let's get pregnant." Bristol felt she should be having a baby, not her mother.
The book comes out Sept. 20. The Associated Press bought a copy on Monday.
In Bristol's book, Not Afraid of Life: My Journey So Far, released in June, she says she lost her virginity to Johnston on a camping trip when she got drunk on wine coolers. But Johnston is refuting that. He says in his book if that's when Bristol first had sex, he "wasn't there."
He says they did camp with friends but it was "well after" the two, who began dating in 2006, were sexually active. He says he remembers an instance in which Bristol wanted to get alcohol, but he was against it because she would "lose her judgment" when drinking, according to AP.
Johnston says he had "been too dumb" to use protection while dating Bristol but knew having a baby was "what she wanted." Palin got pregnant at age 17 and had their baby at 18.
Johnston claims Sarah Palin also had an idea to adopt Bristol's baby to "avoid a scandal" but the young couple wouldn't allow it. Their son, Tripp, was born in December 2008.
Oh, and one more detail from AP: Johnston says Sarah Palin was adamant about not being called grandma, instead wanting to be called Mommy Sarah.
Monday, September 12, 2011
'Doonesbury' takes a look at Palin book
From USA Today: On Politics: 'Doonesbury' takes a look at Palin book
Cartoonist Garry Trudeau isn't the only one who apparently got a sneak peek at author Joe McGinniss' book on Sarah Palin.
Columnist Andrew Sullivan says he, too, got an advance look at McGinniss' book about Palin, titled The Rogue, which is out Sept. 20. Sullivan pronounces the tome "unputdownable" and a "devastating" look at Palin, who says she'll decide by the end of the month whether she'll run for president next year.
In a tidbit for The Daily Beast, Sullivan says he, Trudeau and singer Roseanne Cash each got an advance copy of the book from McGinniss, who moved next door to Palin to get an up-close look at his subject.
Palin put up a fence after McGinniss moved next door and wrote a sarcastic note on Facebook welcoming her neighbor that said she looked forward to "this treasure he's penning."
Trudeau is highlighting passages from The Rogue in his comic strip, Doonesbury. Today, the fictional reporter Roland Hedley reads a passage attributed to Gary Wheeler, the state trooper who was head of Palin's security detail in Alaska. The strip ends with "new book explodes myth of Sarah not reading."
The Washington Post wrote a piece about the Doonesbury strips and The Rogue yesterday. On his blog about the book, McGinniss says he and Trudeau have no "creative and/or financial arrangement."
McGinniss made a name for himself with his book, The Selling of the President, about how Republican Richard Nixon was marketed during the 1968 campaign.
Cartoonist Garry Trudeau isn't the only one who apparently got a sneak peek at author Joe McGinniss' book on Sarah Palin.
Columnist Andrew Sullivan says he, too, got an advance look at McGinniss' book about Palin, titled The Rogue, which is out Sept. 20. Sullivan pronounces the tome "unputdownable" and a "devastating" look at Palin, who says she'll decide by the end of the month whether she'll run for president next year.
In a tidbit for The Daily Beast, Sullivan says he, Trudeau and singer Roseanne Cash each got an advance copy of the book from McGinniss, who moved next door to Palin to get an up-close look at his subject.
Palin put up a fence after McGinniss moved next door and wrote a sarcastic note on Facebook welcoming her neighbor that said she looked forward to "this treasure he's penning."
Trudeau is highlighting passages from The Rogue in his comic strip, Doonesbury. Today, the fictional reporter Roland Hedley reads a passage attributed to Gary Wheeler, the state trooper who was head of Palin's security detail in Alaska. The strip ends with "new book explodes myth of Sarah not reading."
The Washington Post wrote a piece about the Doonesbury strips and The Rogue yesterday. On his blog about the book, McGinniss says he and Trudeau have no "creative and/or financial arrangement."
McGinniss made a name for himself with his book, The Selling of the President, about how Republican Richard Nixon was marketed during the 1968 campaign.
Palin: No "drop-dead date" to get in 2012 race
From CBS News, The Political Hot Sheet: Palin: No "drop-dead date" to get in 2012 race
Sarah Palin turned down an offer to participate in Monday's debate of Republican presidential candidates sponsored by the Tea Party Express and CNN, but the possible White House hopeful teased that she has not completely taken herself out of contention.
"I'm still thinking about it," she said in an appearance on Fox News after the Florida debate when asked if she would run for president.
"I'm not going to let the media tell me, dictate when a drop-dead date should be," she added.
The former governor and Fox News contributor hammered Texas Gov. Rick Perry for "crony capitalism" on his mandate for HPV vaccinations and complimented Rep. Michele Bachmann for "calling out corruption in government."
"People are afraid, even in our own party, to call one another out on that," Palin said on "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren." "Michele Bachmann tried to make that point tonight and watch- she's, potentially, going to get crucified."
Palin had kind words for Newt Gingrich, saying the former Speaker of the House was "bold" talking about government waste, and Herman Cain, calling his background in the private sector "great."
She was otherwise hard on the candidates, saying most "don't have a record to stand on" because "they haven't tackled debt and deficit spending to a degree that they should."
Palin did not name a future opponent winner of the debate, and instead declared the Tea Party the night's winner.
"[I'm] very excited about the validation of the Tea Party movement."
Of her possible run, Palin said she's still "very engaged internally" in discussions with her family.
"I'm getting a kick out of getting out there, giving a speech, making some statements," Palin said. "And then, the very next day, watching some of the candidates get out there and discuss what it was we just talked about."
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
N.H. Republican says Sarah Palin's window is closed
From Los Angeles Times: N.H. Republican says Sarah Palin's window is closed
Reporting from Manchester, N.H.--— Republican activists in early voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire generally speak of Sarah Palin’s presidential prospects in encouraging terms. She’s a star, they say. If she decides to run, she’ll shake up the field.
Lately, the praise has been tempered with warnings about how her time is growing short.
But on Monday, the day Palin appeared before a large and very enthusiastic crowd at a Tea Party Express rally here, and two days after her much-anticipated speech to the Tea Party of America in Indianola, Iowa, a plugged-in New Hampshire Republican said he believes her window has already slammed shut. At least in the Granite State.
“I think it’s too late for Gov. Palin to get into the race,” said Steve Duprey, a former New Hampshire Republican Party chairman and veteran of John McCain’s 2008 campaign. ”
Duprey, who is not aligned with a candidate, said he does not believe Palin has time to put together an effective organization in New Hampshire, which holds the nation’s first primary in early 2012. That event is hugely symbolic in the course of the presidential campaign.
But supporters say that if Palin were to get in the race – she has said she will make her intentions known by the end of September or so—she could run an unconventional campaign without the usual apparatus. In Iowa, such an approach, they say, is possible because a passionate group of Palin supporters has taken unilaterally begun creating a framework of supporters and a data base that could be quickly tapped.
But New Hampshire is a different animal. And here, she has no similar structure.
“New Hampshire is a state with one of the highest voter turnouts in the country,” said Duprey, whose wife, Susan Duprey, is a campaign-trail confidante of Romney’s wife, Ann. “If you skip or take a dive in New Hampshire, it would be such a black mark I don’t think you could recover. Nobody who has ever skipped New Hampshire has ever become the Republican nominee.”
Palin sound very much like a candidate during her 25-minute speech Monday afternoon in Veteran’s Memorial Park. Her drawing power is considerable—about 1,000 turned up to hear what was a rousing pep talk for the Tea Party movement, which she urged to fight against “Barack Obama’s very strange, fundamental transformation of the country that we so love.”
Besides lavishing praise on the “independent, common-sense constitutionalists” before her, Palin reprised most of her themes from the speech she gave Saturday in Iowa: the president is incapable of fixing the broken economy, the American people are beholden to a professional political class interested only in self-perpetuation and “crony capitalism” – as practiced by politicians of both parties, big business, and big finance -- is the root of the country’s economic ills.
Interrupted by chants of “Run, Sarah, run!” she at one point, smiled and said, “Thank you for your encouragement,” deflecting for the umpteenth time an answer about her plans.
By contrast, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, drew only 250 to a rally put on by the same Tea Party Express group in nearby Concord. Romney, who has a vacation home in New Hampshire, is practically considered a native son, and continues to lead in polls here.
Romney, who had not put much effort into courting tea party supporters, recently reached out to them. He needs to. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, though only in the race for a little over three weeks, has already leapfrogged over Romney and is leading in polls, thanks in good measure to support by tea party conservatives.
At a pancake breakfast for 450 on Monday, Romney stressed the bonds between the tea party and the Republican establishment. He dismissed stories about a rift that led one tea party faction to protest his inclusion in the Tea Party Express rally on Sunday.
“No one wants to watch a TV story that says ‘Mr. So-and-So spoke to a group and he was well received,’” Romney said on a large deck at the Derryfield Country Club, a municipal golf course. “What you want, is ‘Mr. Romney came to this group and there were two protesters that yelled at him. And so naturally, there’s great interest to say, ‘Oh the Tea Party and mainstream Republicans, oh, they’re fighting.’ ”
He called the tea party “a powerful movement” and said its core principles are the same as the GOP’s.
“The tea party has at its center core a belief that government is too big. Sound familiar? That’s what we’ve been saying for years and years as the Republican Party.”
Romney’s sudden embrace of the tea party gave Palin an opportunity to tweak him—though not by name.
“We’re seeing more and more folks realize the strength of this grass-roots movement," Palin said. “And they’re wanting to be involved. I say, right on! Better late than never--for some of these candidates, especially.”
And she alluded to some rifts in the tea party, particularly the protests that some unhappy tea party conservatives mounted on Sunday when Romney addressed the Tea Party Express. “Media-incited internal squabbles,” she said, must be nipped “in the bud.”
“It’s time now to grow the tea party movement,” Palin said. “We simply don’t have time to bog down in internal…and friendly-fire conflicts,” she said. “The Tea Party movement is bigger than any one person and it’s not about any one candidate.”
Reporting from Manchester, N.H.--— Republican activists in early voting states like Iowa and New Hampshire generally speak of Sarah Palin’s presidential prospects in encouraging terms. She’s a star, they say. If she decides to run, she’ll shake up the field.
Lately, the praise has been tempered with warnings about how her time is growing short.
But on Monday, the day Palin appeared before a large and very enthusiastic crowd at a Tea Party Express rally here, and two days after her much-anticipated speech to the Tea Party of America in Indianola, Iowa, a plugged-in New Hampshire Republican said he believes her window has already slammed shut. At least in the Granite State.
“I think it’s too late for Gov. Palin to get into the race,” said Steve Duprey, a former New Hampshire Republican Party chairman and veteran of John McCain’s 2008 campaign. ”
Duprey, who is not aligned with a candidate, said he does not believe Palin has time to put together an effective organization in New Hampshire, which holds the nation’s first primary in early 2012. That event is hugely symbolic in the course of the presidential campaign.
But supporters say that if Palin were to get in the race – she has said she will make her intentions known by the end of September or so—she could run an unconventional campaign without the usual apparatus. In Iowa, such an approach, they say, is possible because a passionate group of Palin supporters has taken unilaterally begun creating a framework of supporters and a data base that could be quickly tapped.
But New Hampshire is a different animal. And here, she has no similar structure.
“New Hampshire is a state with one of the highest voter turnouts in the country,” said Duprey, whose wife, Susan Duprey, is a campaign-trail confidante of Romney’s wife, Ann. “If you skip or take a dive in New Hampshire, it would be such a black mark I don’t think you could recover. Nobody who has ever skipped New Hampshire has ever become the Republican nominee.”
Palin sound very much like a candidate during her 25-minute speech Monday afternoon in Veteran’s Memorial Park. Her drawing power is considerable—about 1,000 turned up to hear what was a rousing pep talk for the Tea Party movement, which she urged to fight against “Barack Obama’s very strange, fundamental transformation of the country that we so love.”
Besides lavishing praise on the “independent, common-sense constitutionalists” before her, Palin reprised most of her themes from the speech she gave Saturday in Iowa: the president is incapable of fixing the broken economy, the American people are beholden to a professional political class interested only in self-perpetuation and “crony capitalism” – as practiced by politicians of both parties, big business, and big finance -- is the root of the country’s economic ills.
Interrupted by chants of “Run, Sarah, run!” she at one point, smiled and said, “Thank you for your encouragement,” deflecting for the umpteenth time an answer about her plans.
By contrast, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, drew only 250 to a rally put on by the same Tea Party Express group in nearby Concord. Romney, who has a vacation home in New Hampshire, is practically considered a native son, and continues to lead in polls here.
Romney, who had not put much effort into courting tea party supporters, recently reached out to them. He needs to. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, though only in the race for a little over three weeks, has already leapfrogged over Romney and is leading in polls, thanks in good measure to support by tea party conservatives.
At a pancake breakfast for 450 on Monday, Romney stressed the bonds between the tea party and the Republican establishment. He dismissed stories about a rift that led one tea party faction to protest his inclusion in the Tea Party Express rally on Sunday.
“No one wants to watch a TV story that says ‘Mr. So-and-So spoke to a group and he was well received,’” Romney said on a large deck at the Derryfield Country Club, a municipal golf course. “What you want, is ‘Mr. Romney came to this group and there were two protesters that yelled at him. And so naturally, there’s great interest to say, ‘Oh the Tea Party and mainstream Republicans, oh, they’re fighting.’ ”
He called the tea party “a powerful movement” and said its core principles are the same as the GOP’s.
“The tea party has at its center core a belief that government is too big. Sound familiar? That’s what we’ve been saying for years and years as the Republican Party.”
Romney’s sudden embrace of the tea party gave Palin an opportunity to tweak him—though not by name.
“We’re seeing more and more folks realize the strength of this grass-roots movement," Palin said. “And they’re wanting to be involved. I say, right on! Better late than never--for some of these candidates, especially.”
And she alluded to some rifts in the tea party, particularly the protests that some unhappy tea party conservatives mounted on Sunday when Romney addressed the Tea Party Express. “Media-incited internal squabbles,” she said, must be nipped “in the bud.”
“It’s time now to grow the tea party movement,” Palin said. “We simply don’t have time to bog down in internal…and friendly-fire conflicts,” she said. “The Tea Party movement is bigger than any one person and it’s not about any one candidate.”
Monday, September 5, 2011
Sarah Palin 'Big Announcement' Flakes Out
From Yahoo News: Sarah Palin 'Big Announcement' Flakes Out
For all the tea party supporters who showed up in Iowa to hear what Fox News called a "major announcement" from Sarah Palin, perhaps her message should have been "psych." Palin spent a majority of her 40-minute speech thrashing the current administration for its policies and little else.
Only about 2,000 people showed up to hear a Tea Party of America public figure speak about how bad things are in America. At the Restoring America event, Palin said many things she would do. Bloomberg reports Palin wouldn't approve any bailouts yet get rid of corporate income taxes. The former governor of Alaska also said the tea party has been "mocked."
One thing Palin didn't say was whether or not she was running for president. Despite many signs in the crowd saying "Run Sarah, Run" she was coy about her political ambitions. The night before her speech, Palin said she could see more room for candidates yet she liked the current field running in the GOP primaries for 2012.
Palin had better hurry. Conservatives4Palin.com reports she's only raised $1.6 million in the first half of 2011 vs. over $18 million for Mitt Romney, according to USA Today . If she wants to run for office and gain a fundraising advantage over her opponents, Palin should declare soon in order to move forward with her campaign. The first primary election is January, just five months away. Other candidates who have already declared an intention to run have gained more money in the meantime.
There was rain on a day when Palin showed up at the behest of the Tea Party of America. Even though buses showed up from as far away as Texas and New Mexico, it wasn't enough to show Palin actually meant something to the tea party. Just like Palin's movie entitled "The Undefeated," perhaps it was bad scheduling on the part of conservative politicians.
Her movie ran against "Harry Potter" in theaters. Now, Palin's appearance in central Iowa coincided with the first weekend of college football and the Labor Day weekend. Maybe the tea party would have done better if she spoke at the Tennessee Tech vs. Iowa football game. Her attendance figure would have been closer to 70,000 instead.
How many times will fans of Palin realize she may or may not deliver on what they want? She's stayed mum on her plans to run for president. Even if she does run, that's not a guarantee she will win. Keep in mind her record as governor of Alaska -- Palin resigned with 18 months left in her term so she may not follow through with anything.
The Tea Party of America even flaked out. There were no major announcements at the speech. Only 2,000 people showed up. It was all style and no substance. Hopefully tea party members won't be the same way when and if they get elected to office.
William Browning is a research librarian specializing in U.S. politics. Born in St. Louis, Browning is active in local politics and served as a campaign volunteer for President Barack Obama and Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill.
Friday, September 2, 2011
Why Palin [Probably] Won't Run
According to John Fund of News Max:
Story #2: John Fund Says Palin Won't Run, Will Endorse Perry
RUSH: John Fund in this NewsMax piece doesn't say he has any insider information. He's basically saying, arguing that Palin doesn't have any organization set up to run any time soon, that she doesn't have the exploratory committee, the campaign chieftain and all that. So he's just putting A and B together, getting C, as he sees it. No insider information on that; he's just of the opinion she not gonna run but she will endorse Rick Perry, soon, that that's what her trips to Iowa are all about.
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