Whether Sarah Palin will make a serious bid for president in 2012 is up for grabs. But Palinpalooza is certainly running. And the media seems to be obsessed with it. I’ve never seen anything like this. Last year’s losing VP Candidate, the quitter half term Governor of Alaska, the self-anointed Goddess of Facebook has gotten a bigger roll-out for her book GOING ROGUE than J.K. Rowling, John Grisham, Stephen King and Danielle Steele ever got combined.
MSNBC, the “lefty” cable outlet has two seasoned reporters, Andrea Mitchell and Norah O’Donnell, following the tour to bookstores and malls across the heartland. Why? So they can ask the big question: will she or won’t she run? Along the way, they ask her legions of fans–waiting for hours, some skipping work, following her around like she’s the Grateful Dead– stumpers about her stands on issues. Even when they disagree with things she supported like the original Wall Street bail- out, they unabashedly adore their candidate. She resonates with a lot of people, that’s for sure. But does that merit so much media attention? People line up for the Jonas Brothers and Miley Cyrus, too.
Of course, Sarachuda’s playing it coy. 2012’s not even on her radar, she demurs. And the more she evades the question, the more books she’ll sell and the more coverage she’ll get. Sounds like a win-win. For her.
And maybe for the media, too. November is sweeps month for TV, so the more provocative she can be, the more viewers all outlets hope to attract. On Wednesday– the same day the Anti-defamation League labeled Glenn Beck the main stream media’s “Fear Monger in-Chief,” admonishing him as the commentator responsible for stoking anti-government sentiment and outlandish conspiracies about President Obama and his administration- Palin gave him her seal of approval. She told NewsMax she would be honored to consider Beck as her Vice Presidential pick “should I ever be fortunate enough to be in such a position.” Can you imagine? What if such an improbable ticket really won? Palin might grow weary of the big gig and quit to go moose hunting, leaving the Beckster at the helm. Maybe the Mayans were onto something with those dubious 2012 end-of-the world predictions.
Okay, I’m trying to give her a fair shake. Really, But come on, Glenn Beck? This to me is yet another sign– a flashing red neon light– that Palin will never run for president. Sure, she’ll toy with the electorate; she may even prove an effective King maker ( but after her disastrous meddling in NY’s 23, she needs a little work in that area). Critics contend such a “score settling” book will put the kibosh on any real presidential run. And she does burn bridges like her political aspirations are going nowhere. I think she’s been angling for a Fox News or syndicated talk show all along. And with Oprah taking herself out of the equation, they’ll be a big, bold opening in the crowded talk arena. And Sarahacuda will surely score one. Her blustery polarizing appeal and telegenic appearance make her a natural for cable. If you’ve sampled any of the Oprah and Barbara Walters interviews or watched Sean Hannity’s attempt to foist upon Palin the gravitas many in her own party fear she lacks you know what I’m talking about.
Hannity’s effort didn’t work. Well, maybe she scored points with reluctant Repubs. I admit I look through politics through a liberal prism, so she wasn’t about to make a convert out of me. And to be fair, Hannity did ask more substantive questions than the softballs Oprah tossed. Of course, he spoon-fed her a lot of the answers. And she was still vague. Used “common sense” and “the American people” a lot. And she managed to mix up Iran and Iraq. When asked about about Iran’s nuclear threat, she said we have to step our efforts in Iraq. And Hannity–too busy basking in his golden girl’s shiny, conservative aura–didn’t correct her.
She figured she’d be “clobbered” in the liberal media for using the word “profiling” in her assessment of what went wrong in the months leading up to the Ft. Hood massacre. It’s apparent she doesn’t understand profiling and its dire implications. She’s not wrong about mistakes and missteps in handling Major Hasan of course, but profiling has nothing to do with it. Thousands of Muslims serve in the military and more are recruited in an effort to bridge tricky cultural divides as we muddle through two seemingly endless wars. After discussing Ft. Hood she reiterated her father’s new slogan for her future:”she’s not retreating, she’s reloading,” without blinking ( or winking) an insensitive eye.
And Hannity resurrected Rev. Wright and Bll Ayers. He couldn’t believe the McCain campaign didn’t make a bigger issue out of Obama’s so-called “palling around with terrorists.” And Palin, too, said, she was “perplexed.” The campaign was, she said, “unfair to the electorate” by not exploring Obama’s “radical associations.” Talk about re-heating non-issues over a lukewarm flame.
But at least she finally answered Katie Couric’s gotcha media stumper about the publications she reads. Took her over a year but NewsMax, the Wall Street Journal and The Frontiersman rolled right off her tongue. She admitted she blew the Couric interview, attributed it to a bad attitude. Okay, so she gets a few belated points for taking the hit. This time. In her book, GOING ROGUE she blames McCain staffers for almost everything, including that interview. Palin claimed Nicole Wallace, who she apparently skewers–got her to do Couric because “Katie needed a ratings’ boost” and suffered from low-self-esteem. Wallace has bit back, labeling that incident and the rest of the book “fiction.”
Maybe Palin’s got a future as a novelist. After all, she told Oprah she’d “rather write” than host a show. Guess she forgot: she didn’t actually write GOING ROGUE. But, let’s cut her some slack. She’s a busy woman, after all; she can’t be expected to remember every insignificant little detail. Only the convenient ones.
And whether she writes them or not, the woman knows how to sell books. GOING ROGUE already topped the Amazon list a month before its release thanks to pre-orders and bulk purchases from conservative sites like Palin’s fav NewsMax. So shill,baby, shill! Just don’ expect everyone to buy it.
She’s a frothingly insane Chriatanic Creationist cultist.